Hope Born Anew
by RockBane
Summary: Flames of the Dying Will are an expression of your very soul and yet, Timoteo and Iemitsu still decide that Flame Sealing the youngest Sawada was the right thing to do. It's not like it'll really HARM the boy, right? RIGHT?


I do not own Digimon and Katakyou Hitman Reborn!

 **= - x _ O _ x - =**

Glancing around, he's not sure what to make of the changes done to his room. The dirty blond teen slides off of the bed, landing upon the ground hurts, and that's something that only adds to the feeling of wrongness in his gut. As he gets to his feet, which is easy as he's not wearing any socks so the seemingly glass covered floor doesn't cause him to slip and fall.

Walking around the room, he tries to grab his Digivice from the nightstand but it's back is stuck to the glass. As he heads for the door, he spies something that brings him to heel and causes his heart to clinch within him. "But it was destroyed! Why is it here?"

The tag is resting upon the door knob with his crest within it. As he reaches for it, the crest glows and then the glass around the tag and crest evaporates. And so, Takaishi Takeru, or TK, when he was younger, manages to take the tag and crest from off the door knob and puts it about his neck. For a second, an orange light flickers about the glassy surface before it's gone and it's just him alone within this room that, as he looks about it more carefully, is some kind of mixture of his room as a child, pre-teen, teenager, adult, and elderly man.

His attention goes towards his Digivice, watching as it shifts between the old appearance of being white and small to its bigger appearance of a D-3 that sports green trim. With a sigh, he walks over to try to lift the device only it refuses to move nor does it activate like his crest did, causing the glass to vanish. And so, TK looking like his early teenage self leaves his room behind which has him walking into a place that he has strong memories of.

"The abandoned amusement park..." He remembers this place, how could he not? It's the place where Matt and Gabumon parted company with Patamon and himself, where they'd been alone until that Demi-Devimon started showing up and made use of his own insecurities, of how that lead to him getting into a fight with Tokomon.

This place, at least, isn't covered in glass like his room but, even as he walks through the location, it flickers like a hologram. The blond teen manages to wave a hand through the seemingly solid building. He notices that he doesn't feel the dirt, grass, or pebbles that he seems to be walking over. It's more natural looking but just as surreal as his room, in its own way.

As he reaches the pier, he notices how his surrounds are much larger then before and glances into the water to find that it's more that the change that happened was him becoming eight years old. His pants look like ones he'd wear at that age and he's now sporting a shirt that goes with those pants, yet the tag and crest remain over top of the shirt. The wooden pier seems as solid as he remembers it and so, he sits down on it, turning to stare out at the water like he once had done so many decades ago.

He doesn't really focus on anyone topic as he stares out at the water, his not really able to clearly describe what emotions he's feeling. Takeru remembers his time married to his wife and the family they had, how things changed as Digimon and the Digital World seem to get more and more connected with each other. Of the adventures he couldn't help the next generation of DigiDestine face off with, only offer what little support they'd accept and worry for their safety, both physically and emotionally.

Of how his own body slowly began to ache and how his mind would be as it once was... Memories of his grandchildren and then great grandchildren... The funerals of his brother and the older DigiDestine... He's pretty sure he can pin point the day he died too...

"Where am I?" _Why am I here?_ Goes unspoken and he feels something land on the back of his hands as he clenches his shirt's hem.

Is it really that surprising that he's crying? He use to cry a lot, when he was a child... And his current appearance is that of a child as well.

After a time, there's no more tears to be shed and his breathing becomes easier, steady even. Looking down at the water's surface, he stares once more at his eight year old self's face. With a soft sigh, the blond child crawls backwards and then gets to his feet. Perhaps there's a chance that he'll be able to find Patamon here? Or maybe the others?

Glancing out at the water one last time, he walks away from the pier and away from the abandoned park. Heading in the direction he dimly recalls Tai and Agumon having come from in search of him. As he walks pass a field of mushrooms, the scenery changes around him and the city is covered in fog, Myotismon's mist. Walking about, he finds himself standing before a familiar place, one where Wizardmon was killed protecting Kari and Gatomon.

Glancing around, half expecting and half dreading Bakemon suddenly swarming out of the fog or for Phantomon to suddenly appear. Still, the seemingly child DigiDestine presses into the building and can't help but feel that it's far darker in color and appearance then it should. There's a chill in the air and the color bleeds from his surroundings before he begins to hear waves breaking upon a beach's shore, he can't seem to stop walking forward through the fog until he's at the Dark Ocean in all it's creepy glory.

Terror grips him and he finds himself frozen stiff, it's like this place is actually the Dark Ocean and something generated by his mind. Unease curls about his midsection while he attempts to push pass the fear and terror that's clawing within his chest. The DigiDestine of Hope can't help but feel that he's being watched and swallows.

He manages to pick up a leg and is about to take a step back when he hears a whisper, "And this is the Hope who came to rescue the Light? How pitiful it has become..." TK tenses as he feels things laugh, there's no sound yet, it's this feeling that he's being laughed at, that he's the punchline of a joke that's more cruel then funny.

Putting his foot down, he grinds his teeth, the terror and fear still press in but he's angry now and that seems to help him stand his ground even though he knows he's no match for the beings that lurk here. That he is without a defender, a protector, a **friend**. He recalls that one time he saw Devimon again and recalling the anger he once felt when BlackWarGreymon destroyed that Destiny Stone, it's likely not the emotion he should be using to fend off the influence of this place but feelings are for feeling things, not for reasoning with things.

So, he scans the cliffs, seeking the sight of what once was a Dark Tower, only now, it's a obelisk filled with bright orange flames trapped by a ring sporting some kind of symbol with seven darkly glowing gem stones that seem to be of the rainbow. The laughing stops and it feels as though those beings are now watching him with more interest then before. Fueled by anger and a need to do something, the now adult Takeru stalks over towards the cliff bottom and after studying it for a few seconds, begins to climb up.

That's when the water, fog, and winds begin to hound him. Yet, still, Takeru climbs, somehow managing to find a hand hold along with a foot hold while it feels like the water is trying to cause his feet to lose their placing and the wind freezing his fingers and uncovered upper body. The fog tries to obscure his vision.

The anger that carried him to the bottom of the cliff is gone yet, he presses on even though he can feel the rawness of the terror and fear gripping his heart, the uncertainty within his gut, and himself wondering why he thinks it's such a good idea to be climbing this cliff? The doubt points out that, in the end, the obelisk wasn't something from his past, so why does it matter if he doesn't reach it? _Because it's there._ The DigiDestine tells himself.

Old doubts surface along with memories of how he lost Angemon. Takeru is haunted by his own thoughts of circling around how weak, how unable he to save anyone, and how it's his fault Patamon is here, with him now. It's enough to cause him to pause before, well, reminds himself that, technically, this is likely the after life as he does recall how tired he had been before falling asleep, how heavy his body had been, how sad his partner seemed to be as he fell asleep...

That doesn't do much for his self-esteem yet, there's not for him to do to change things of what happen so there's any reason not to continue to the climb this cliff. After all, even if it doesn't change anything, Takeru knows that there's no harm reaching it, if only to prove that he could reach it. Plus, there can't be any harm in getting a closer look at the strange ring and the orange light that makes up the obelisk...

The wind howls and his muscles begin to ache. He can't really feel his feet, which causes him to slow down, being careful, testing each foot hold before continuing one. His hands wrinkle up and can assume that his appearance is that of an elderly man now. His body is failing him, he takes breaks every few feet but, he presses on. Then, then he feels a large flat surface and with a grunt, he struggles to pull himself up onto the edge of the cliff and as he rolls onto his back, he's body is a different age once more, only this time, he's of the age when he came to the Dark Ocean to rescue his fellow DigiDestine, Tai's younger sister, his friend, and someone he swore to Sora to protect, who he did protect.

Feeling the tag on his chest, the blond looks down and holds it as he studies the crest. The image of a raising sun over a peek of a mountain done up in a bright yellow. "I found you on the side of a cliff, didn't I?" The preteen muses with a slight smile and chuckles softly, finding it poetic in a way that his latest goal also involved a cliff, although the goal was at the top of the cliff and not on the side of it.

It's then that he realizes that his surrounds are different, yet again, and he gasps at the sight of a beautiful clear ocean laid out before him. The negative emotions gone and he smiles as he feels the light of the sun overhead. Feeling energized and more confident, he gets up and turns to regard the obelisk and the ring that's encircling it.

The etching is done in gold and sports a flag with a bullet, two long gun that cross at the top, a clam sporting wings at the top and then at the bottom is a banner that sports a single word, which is Vongola. There curling plants just seem to help pull it together but that's really it. He doesn't recall seeing something like that nor does it invoke memories.

The seven gemstones sport three to the left of the design and three to the right with a single orange one at the top. The first gemstone on the left is red, yellow, and the last is green. The right sports blue, purple, and one that is likely a dark color but impossible for him to guess its actual color as it looks black. The gemstone at the top is orange in color and it's clearly bigger then the others, which are slivers really. While the colors do look familiar, the blond preteen somehow doubts that the colors are related to DigiDestine crests. Then there's the fact the gemstones glint with a dark light, causing their coloring to be tainted.

He looks away from the steel ring and at the bright orange that seems to mimic fire. Tai's crest's color had been orange, TK recalls. Orange for Courage, for true courage is pushing pass fear instead of not feeling fear. Yet, as he studies this orange fire, it doesn't inspire a sense of Courage, no this orange stirs memories of home, family, and friends. It brings to mind the connection between Patamon and himself, which causes him ache with loneliness for his Digimon partner and best friend.

"Patamon..." A yes, orange is also the color of his partner's rookie form. How could he forget that?

He reaches out to touch the obelisk only for glass to flare up between his hand and the dancing orange flame. Pulling his hand away as he felt the glass try and eat his energy, causing him to glare at the glass like substance. It does seemingly vanish yet he knows it's still there.

 _Is this connected to that glass covering my room? That was keeping my Digivice stuck?_ The dirty blond wonders as he walks around the obelisk yet he's certain that the glass substance is there.

Taking a deep breath, he reaches into himself, for the power that Patamon accesses from him to spark his Digivolution. And he punches the glass substance, which does crack and some of it flakes off but as he pulls his fist back, the glassy surface is whole once more which causes him to narrow his eyes before turning his gaze upon the metal ring that's seemingly hovering in the air. The color of the ring wasn't black like the ones Ken as the Digimon Emperor used yet it's not the wholesome gold of Gatomon's tail ring either.

There's nothing glowing on the band of the ring itself and it's appearance is more like one a person would wear in the real world. "Which is strange..." TK muses as he narrows his eyes at the ring before walking around to face the flat surface of the room that sports the etching and the gems.

Frowning, studies the face of the ring once more and, well, it's strange how it's just at the height that he can punch it. The sight of the etched family crest, it does cause unease and the longer he looks at it, the more he finds himself disliking this Vongola. Taking a few steps forward, he touches the face and yelps as it feels like he's been burnt only it's a cold burn, quickly pulling his hand away while holding it to his chest, taking a look at the palm as it heals as the ache vanishes along with the damage to the skin.

Still, the memory of the freezing touch lingers and yet, TK's eyes harden as he lowers his arm. "You don't belong here." He whispers softly and something hums in agreement with that declaration. "And it looks like I'm going to have to remove you myself."

Everyone who knew him in life would all agree that the DigiDestine of Hope isn't a violent person yet, he knows he's capable of holding a grudge and of possessing a frightening temper when he reaches the end of his patience. After all, he did get into a bit of a fist fight with Ken while he was in his Digimon Emperor mindset and he did have Angemon Digivolve into MagnaAngemon to fight BlackWarGreymon, even though he's kind of confused as to why his anger didn't cause his partner to take on a darker evolution. Cody admitted to having miss givings about having TK as his DNA partner and, well, the current preteen always figured the younger DigiDestine had every right to them.

After all, out of the second group of DigiDestine, TK had been there from very start, from the day they got sent to 'Digi-World' from that camping trip and while not much time passed in the Real World, it did pass for him and left its own mark upon him, making him older then most of his peer could understand. He experienced what it's like to be abandoned by people close to him, even Matt and Gabumon ended up not fulfilling their promise of returning to him when they left Tokomon and himself at the amusement park. Left stewing with his own doubts and insecurities as he waited for the two to return, only for Demi-Devimon to arrive and help in increasing his condition. TK had been eight at the time and the others were also dealing with their own emotions and insecurities...

So, yea, him as an eight year old had learnt to come to some terms with his own experience with abandonment, it helps that the source of the problem ended up being the villain being the one who planned it out, to try and break them emotionally. He understood that it wasn't just him that was the target and then they defeated that Ultimate Digimon one, then a second time as VemonMyotismon, and, well, a third time for Kari, Gatomon, Patamon, and himself, defeated MaloMyotismon. Seeing that virus Digimon die so many times, well, it kind of helped in a way it really shouldn't yet it did.

Looking the say he did and feeling so much like the preteen he once was, TK reaches for that pool of energy that caused him to come to the attention of Gennai's race in the first place. Why he had been Chosen over other Candidates, for while Hope is the emotion he displayed upon being scanned, he had to be able to be a Pillar upon which to rest the fate of two Worlds. After all, Joe had been the oldest member of the original eight, so it's clear that while age did factor into it was a kind of bendable point as it's clear Joe was picked over younger Candidates that had been scanned.

"I'm with you, TK." He swears he hears a voice whisper in his right ear as the energy raises out of him. It then covers him, startling him and yet, it doesn't stop now that his concentration has broken.

It fades away and he's covered in armor along with aged to an adult with a weight to his back. There's a soft feeling of light laughter as he takes a look at his current attire, which is colored blue with gold. There's forearm protectors that are clearly stylized off of Seraphimon's own while there's wrappings about his torso that's similar to MagnaAngemon. Turning to look over his shouldn't, he's got a single pair of white feathered wings that clearly be home on Angemon's back. His gaze then goes about his body but it's his hands that pull his gaze as he notices how the both sport blue finger-less gloves with the differences being what's on the back of each glove. The back of his right glove sports his crest in bright gold while his left sports a gold double wing design.

"Well, this is different." He muses as he looks back at the metal ring, noting how the ring is again at a punch-able height. "And that's just plain convenient."

And so, Takeru begins to punch the gold etching, he picks up his speed of his punches as the damage done tries to repair itself. The dark rainbow light tries to flare in a warning fashion but so does the orange fire that makes up the obelisk, that glass is now visible as he damages the right. Small slivers would fall from the shattering damage of his punches even though the ring doesn't show any real damage beyond the gold flaking away and indents left by his fists score the metal surface. It's not the ring that finally gives, it's that glassy substance and the ring falls to the ground while the orange fire explodes out of the confides of the obelisk shape.

The fire rushes up into the sky and there's no smoke, nothing burns where the fire touches the ground, although it does avoid the ring. He can't help but smile at the sight as he feels his new wings fold onto his back. Then the back of his right hand begins to glow and holding the hand out, he stares only to watch as the orange fire slowly snakes close to where his hand is. Blinking, Takeru isn't sure what to make of this response yet, it's mote as the string of orange flame makes contact with his hand and the crest upon the glove glows.

Before he's aware of what's happening, the fire sweeps not just over him but in him. There's a giggling sensation while he's being lifted into the air. Not wanting to fall, he opens his wing and yet, it just causes him to fly higher far faster then expected and then that ring is now following after for some reason. Then the ring over takes him and he's passing through a hole that is rainbow colored.

He barely catches glimpses of different scenes or landscapes while passing through these, well, layers, as the fire continues to lift him up, higher and higher, having him go through more rainbow colored portals. He's gone through three dozen, wait, no, dozen of a dozen? In the end, it's hard for him to count, yet he knows that each layer featured a person, usually born male in either body and spirit or in just mind and spirit, and they lived interesting lives before death claimed them, either cut far too short before reaching their adulthood or through other means, few, he doesn't know how he knows, ever died of old age.

He's unsure of what to make of that and in the end, he's not really given the time to think about it as the fire reaches an end, well, it seems to be an end as there's no rainbow portal here for the fire to move through. And so, he flies out of the orange fire and lands on the floor, he feels the weight on his back vanish along with the weight upon his arms. The orange fire seems to enter into his body, much to his surprise while vanishing from sight and the room is now black for there's no light. "I'm here with you, TK." He hears Patamon whisper and he feels a phantom weight upon his right shoulder.

Stiffening as a feeling of unease begins to weight on his midsection, something akin to a memory begins to play out. The impression is that he's the one giving the order as people began to die yet, he Knows himself and Takeru isn't the one who caused this memory to play out like it did. It continues as that sensation continues to make it seem that he's the one responsible, that these are his murders. Even when the memory plays out like he's the one to be directly responsible, be it with a gun, knife, or some other weapon. But he's not the one, yes, he's aided in the killing of Digimon but never humans.

"Enough." He states yet in reply, a number of voice begin to chant. Takeru feels his anger bubbling up within and something responding to it. "ENOUGH!" He bellows and that fire that took refuge within him roars into action, wings of orange fire sprout as he finally gets a look at the supposed adults, each sporting orange fire from where their eyes should be. "ENOUGH!"

And finally silence descends, he glares at each of them. "You did the crime, you do the time! Carry your own burdens! If none of you wanted the weight then you shouldn't have done the things you did!" He snaps at them. "Take responsibility for your own Actions! I know I have!"

"That I always will." He whispers that as he looks down as he recalls the private discussion between Cody and him where the younger DigiDestine asked if he regretted the killing of Digimon from his first adventure. Cody's hadn't been happy with his answer but, well, they were kids and they were thrown into a situation that none of them were prepared to deal with. In their minds, they wanted to live and if a Digimon just kept coming at them with intent to kill...

Yes, it turned out that Digimon just come back viva Primary village when killed in the Digital World. Those killed in the real world, well, they stayed dead as they had no way to get reformatted into an egg. It's a divide that separated him from most of the second group, even Kari to a certain extent. Most of those killed in the real world had their Data collected by those digital bats, helping to fuel VemonMyotismon into forming, that's the theory Izzy put forth as to why Wizardmon had been the only Digimon to become a ghost when he gave them that warning.

"So Leave Off the Blame Game." He growls at the collection of people, all being men save for a single woman. There's an uncertainty in the air while his wings of fire remain alight and on display. Silence continues on and on, yet he sets his shoulders and continues to eye them all with contempt and hostility for clearly these people were dangerous and more then willing to kill another human being for, likely, petty reasons. "I don't think they know what to do with that answer." Whispers Patamon from his right shoulder, there's no Patamon resting on his shoulder yet, that hardly matters.

"Hm..." It's kind of like a yawn and then there's choking ringing out, this, it seems, can be a signal of some sort so the eight vanish away while a throne sporting a blond man with rather spiky hair and blue eyes tries to recover from his fit. "Ah hahaha... Sorry, I, well, wasn't expecting anyone to... I mean, your..." The man's eyes were clearly resting on his wings of fire.

"Not interested in whatever this is suppose to be for." Takeru states in a calm and dry tone. "After all, I have my own problems to deal with and friends to find." He's pretty certain that once he's done here, he should be able to track down whatever afterlife his friends were hold up at, well, he hopes he can.

"So... Angel, huh? I never expected to met one, kind of figured it would be Hell for me." Admits the blond upon the throne.

"Ah, no." Takeru tells the man. "Takaishi Takeru and I'm pretty sure I'm dead."

"Giotto Vongola, though I died under the name of Sawada Ieyasu in Japan." And he asks, "Which name do you prefer?"

"Huh, I don't think anyone asked me that." Admits the other man. "Both have important memories to them but, well, Giotto is the one where I still dreamed of making a difference for the better."

"Didn't turn out very well it seems." Takeru muses with a bit of pity and Giotto nods in agreement. "So, any of them direct descendants?" He asks curiously.

"My half-cousin and his line." Admits Giotto. "Ricardo and Daemon didn't like my disbanding of our forces when they started to taint my vision. Forced me into retirement but first, had me help create a blood-lock on the Vongola Rings."

"Why did you need an army of people?" He can't help but ask the other blond curiously. "I protecting the poor." States Giotto in a matter of fact tone.

"And this involved killing people, a lot of people." Takeru says with a soft sigh and Giotto blinks in a manner of, 'how did you know?' "Did you at least ask to see if they wanted your protection? Or did you just..." He didn't know how to word that and Giotto looks rather confused as to why that was something to consider.

"So, you took on a role that nobody asked you to take up and went on to... fight those granted the authority to rule over certain territories without giving those living under them a heads up about why they might be targeted by those people?" He muses and it's then that it strikes Giotto that maybe the problem started with that. "Didn't get a lot of support from certain territories willingly huh?"

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty." Giotto admits after thinking his statement and looking a touch remorseful. "But I did my best to ensure they were treated more fairly."

"Well, at least you acknowledge that some people likely weren't thrilled with you butting your nose into their situation between them and those governing bodies." He muses. "So... Why allow the others to..."

"It's a Trail to see if the heir is fit to become the Don of the Famiglia." Giotto explains. "And you are not in possession of the current the Sky Ring of the Vongola. So, how did you end up here?"

"Well, there was this obelisk filled with orange fire that had this right around it sporting a minor banner with the world Vongola plus seven gemstones." Takeru takes a moment to regard the ghost. "Tried touching the fire only for this barrier to cause do a freezer burn on my hand. I accessed the power from when I was alive and started punching the ring, which lead to the clear glassy substance to shatter from the blows done to the ring."

He sighs, continuing, "The fire headed straight to the sky and then, well, it pulled me up. That ring, it surged ahead and then, it was like, a gate appeared, a portal leading elsewhere and the fire flowed through it. The colors of the rainbow marking the way up and up. Traveling through layers upon layers, so many countless layers with only fleeting glimpses of someone or some place..." His left hand runs through his hair as he recalls some of the glimpses.

"Then, the fire and portal brought me here, the fire entered into me and I have not seen the way out of this place." He states. "And I believe you can guess what happened upon arriving here."

Giotto winces while sporting a look of apology yet, it's quickly replaced with open interest. The fellow ghost, maybe, after all, Takeru does recall the last date of his life and he's not at rest, same as Giotto, or at least, he isn't at rest now, gets up and walks down towards him, causing him to wonder where the steps came from, then again, the place's own appearance has changed. There is light now and the area looks like a room with ten painting frames, only eight of those sport an image of a person.

Giotto's eyes focus on his tag and crest, then again, given he's got nothing on save pajama bottoms, it's rather hard not to notice it. His wings of flame fold onto his back, it's odd how he doesn't really feel the heat or any pain from the orange fire that continues to burn without any fuel to consume. By the time Giotto reaches him, there's a disk of orange fire burning upon the man's forehead and his spiky hair shimmers like it's made of flame with orange highlight throughout the bright blond color. There's amber orange eyes now staring at him, where there had once been blue.

They stand with at least four feet between them, there's a tension in the air. "What does that symbol represent?" Asks Giotto in a chilly calm voice.

"Hope." He replies simply. "My crest represented Hope."

"And why do you still wear it?" Giotto asks in that same chilly calm voice. Takeru's eyes narrow at the other, weighing whether he should answer.

"I wear it because it is what guided me through my life. I might have resented it at times but, in the end, I chose to be a DigiDestine." He states. "It was ever my choice." Thoughts of Ken as the Digimon Emperor come to mind and how, Ken returned to the Digital World to try and make amends for his actions. Nobody forced Ken to do so or expected him to ever want anything to do with the Digital World once he lost Wormmon.

He feels Patamon nudge his neck while Giotto seems to be weighing the answer. Takeru doesn't really care about Giotto's opinion of him or of his title, after all, he doesn't really care for this Vongola Famiglia or of this practice of forces ones own crimes onto another, forcing them to be burdened with the weight of a long line of other's crimes and the sum of their own actions. He did wonder what's up with the orange fire going on with this place.

Then the flames vanish and for some reason, his own wings vanish at the same time, leaving Giotto beaming at him. "Well, welcome to the family and I hope we meet under better conditions." Which causes him to blink and within seconds, Giotto gives him a hug, whispering in his left ear, "Beware of the Ninth and his plot."

And then, everything falls away and the feeling of Giotto's arms fade while he feels Patamon clutching his hair...

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

It's the smell and the beeping that he notices first. Groaning softly, he opens his eyes to find himself in a hospital bed. "TK?" He blinks and glances to the right side to find Tokomon laying there.

"Tokomon?" His voice sounds harsh, soft, and scratchy from disuse. "Why are we here?" He asks after swallowing a few times and reaching to pull the in-training Digimon into his side.

"I don't really know but I know you... you died, TK." Tokomon moves to dig into his right, he can already hear the tears in his partner's tone. "You died and... And I was so alone."

Tears well up in his own eyes and he begins to sniffle while rolling over to pull his partner into his chest. Clinging to each other, emotions running high between them, it's hardly surprising that when they were spent, they both drifted off to sleep, not caring about anything save that they were together again.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

It seems that his appearance is different, just as his current name is one that reminded him of how Giotto introduced himself as. After all, Sawada had been a last name he heard from the ghost and here he is, listed as one Sawada Tsunayoshi, Tsuna for short. It also might explain what Giotto meant by welcoming him into the family, although how the other had known he'd end up inhabiting a descendant of his, he doesn't know.

As for why he's been in the hospital, well, it turns how he'd been in a coma since his father and the man's boss visited the house, which had been a good three months ago. They couldn't not find the cause and his body had been wasting away at an alarming rate, so, when the nurse found him curled around a 'stuffed toy', the doctors were biting at the bit to find out the cause of how he recovered, all the while he's been put on a strict diet, which only increased when it's clear that he just needed more food as the portions weren't enough to match his body's metabolism, never mind how hard it was to share food with Tokomon as he was usually starving.

It's only in the last few days that he's been allowed to get out of bed to walk to the washroom as he'd been too weak to do so before. So, this is the first time he's gotten a good look at just who Tsuna looks like to other people and, well, he kind of finds it bemusing that he's got brunet hair, although his eyes are now blue, according to his records, they should be hazel brown. His hair could have been spiky if it had been shorter and it had been shorter before the coma.

He's not sure what to think of his new looks and yet, something tells him that given time, his appearance with become more familiar and, well, he is already asking the nurses to call him TK instead of Tsuna. It's a slow work in progress but, well, they do comply to his request for likely a single reason, which is likely due to them believing that it has to do with trauma relating to what happened to put him into the coma in the first place. And, honestly, that Feels Truthful in a really disturbing way.

With a soft sigh and suppressing a yawn, the now five year old DigiDestine leaves the bathroom, being sure to turn off the light. While he's getting more energetic since they increased his diet's portions, it doesn't stop his body from being unused to the sudden amount of activity or exercise. Tokomon glances in his direction and once he's back up onto the bed, he asks, "How come you didn't say anything about having Tai's hair?"

Tokomon giggles while he exaggerates his huffing and crossing of his arms about his chest. "I thought you knew! Your bangs aren't that short." His partner and best friend remarks, he sighs as he moves under the sheets and leans back into the raised back of the bed.

Tokomon is quick to come climb onto his legs, surrendering the remote for the tv. Picking it up, TK turns up the volume now that the commercials are over. So, with a hand on Tokomon's back, they watch the anime show that's likely targeted for teenagers.

"Small animal..." That growl causes what lull of him falling to sleep to wake and to turn to find a slightly older kid glaring threatening at him. "Why have you not returned to school?"

He is rather confused, after all, he's pretty sure the doctors have all agreed that he's still got a lot of weight to recover while keeping him under observation to see if he suffers a relapse. So, yea, no school for him until he's been given a clean bill of health. Plus, what kind of kid appoints himself a truancy officer?

"Cause I'm still underweight? I need physical therapy to help build muscle? Or, it might be due to the doctors still not knowing why I ended up in a coma in the first place." He tells the other kid, he's not sure what to make of the other.

"Were we friends before I ended up here?" He thinks to ask and that seem to cause the boy's attention to return to his face with a child like glare. "Cause, if we were, I don't recall it."

"I'm a Carnivore." Like that explains everything. "That... explains nothing." He informs the other gently, which just seems to cause the other to try and give him a dirty look, which just comes across as grumpy really.

"You are a small animal." As if that is reason enough for him to not understand. "Ah, well, did you bring my homework then? Or was it just to inquire as to why I haven't been back to school?"

It's clear that the other boy is at a loss as to what to do now, it's like some familiar routine has been thrown out the window, leaving the other unsure of how to get things back under control. Then again, TK doubts he's going to be able to fully understand what's going on in the minds of kids the age of his body, after all, it's been decades since he'd been an actual kid, himself plus there's that little fact that helping to save the world kind of caused him to have different priorities then other kids his own age, it's why he considered Kari his best friend after all. _Then again, he's not acting like I recall kids his age should act._

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, though I prefer to be called TK, though I guess Tsuna works just as well." He decides to introduce himself in hopes that it'll help settle the kid in turn. "And this is Tokomon." He gestures to his friend and the other's sharp grey eyes land on Tokomon, surprisingly, for a split second, the kid's gaze softens slightly but is gone when the other raises his head up to give him a flat look.

With that, the kid twirls around and marches off, although it's likely the kid is trying to stalk off in a huff. "Kind of rude, huh?" Tokomon remarks and he chuckles.

"Well, rude or not, I get the feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of him in the future." TK tells his partner, that feeling of warmth seems to agree with that statement. "We'll get his name eventually."

"Yea, guess so." His partner replies and, well, he's now restless and not feeling the need to nap now. "When do you think you'll be meeting her?"

He glances off to the side at the mention of her, he knows who his partner is talking about and, well, it hurts that there's going to be someone answering to the title of mom. "Don't know, the nurses... They never gave a straight answer to that and the doctors..." _It's like they're doing their best to keep them apart or not to mention her at all._

It's rather confusing as he doesn't feel like he needs their protection yet, TK worries about why they feel like they need to protect him from this woman at the same time. "The doctors always avoid the topic." Tokomon states softly, he pulls his friend close, giving him a hug.

Feeling better and knowing he's not alone, the DigiDestine of Hope lets Tokomon out of the hug and reaches for the remote to find something else to watch along with unmuting the tv.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Tsu-kun!" He blinks upon hearing the name before he looks over towards the woman he's never seen in the child's ward of the hospital. It doesn't take him long to realize she's coming in his direction and given her appearance, well, it seems that this is the woman who is to be his mother in this life.

It's been six months since he's woken up from that coma and most of the hospital staff and the other kids he's visited have come to refer to him as TK. Then there's the fact that his hair has also been sporting lighter highlights under the light, he's pretty sure that, given time, he'll be back to being a dirty blond and, perhaps, his hair won't be as spiky as it seems to be. So yea, being called Tsu-chan is a touch bewildering and rather uncomfortable given he doesn't think of himself as Tsunayoshi.

So yes, he's not prepared for either the nickname nor the woman who is giving him a hug while cooing at him. What's kind of disturbing is how she just approached him as though she'd just seen him some hours ago or far more recently then she had. Nor is there any tears over the fact that he's alive or even promises made about being a better mother... After all, most parents do blame themselves on some level if their kids end up in the hospital, he blamed himself when... Wrestling his mind out of that train of thought, TK notices the way the other kids are looking on plus there's clear frowns upon the volunteers' faces.

It's not that surprising really, the only one who visited him on a regular basis is one Hibari Kyoya, who pretty much demands progress reports about when he'll be able to return to school while continuing to refer to him as either small animal or fluffy animal, likely due to his need for a hair cut. Most of the nurses and doctors seem to have given up on trying to keep the little hellion from visiting him, although they did make it clear that if he does not like having Kyoya visiting him, that they'd contact the boy's parents about his discomfort. Neither Tokomon or him minded having the kid checking up on him, in someways, it's like having a far more ferocious, stubborn version of Matt, after all, Hibari seems to be staying longer in his presence along with growing more comfortable with him.

It's not long before the woman pulls away and promises to return after speaking with the doctors so that they can be home by dinnertime. He honestly couldn't keep his bewilderment and confusion from his face at the mention of leaving today as he's pretty sure that's going to happen tomorrow as tonight has to do with celebrating a Birthday of one Himura Shiro, who's turning eight and ended up admitted due to breaking his left arm viva skateboarding and hadn't been wearing any protective gear. "Are you going to miss Shiro-kun's party, TK?"

"I shouldn't be, the doctor assured me that I'll be release tomorrow." He assures Tendo Jun, who's recovering from surgery about removing a portion of her liver. He's hoping it's nothing too serious, given that Jun is eleven years old and wants to open her own restaurant that is all about serving desserts and soda. She gives him a smile and moves to sit down to join him in drawing on sheets of paper using color pencils with her asking him for a story concerning the picture he's drawing, he's doing his best to draw an image of Leomon in a defensive pose.

He's well known for telling the most interesting stories, which is to be expected, given he did become an author after all. His best seller had been books concerning his adventures in the Digital World. While it's too early to decide what he wants to do once he's an adult once again, TK already knows for certain that he wants nothing to do with the Vongola Famiglia and their blood stained legacy.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

Kyoya arrives the day after his release from the hospital to escort him to school. Nana-san, well, she does fuss over the older boy and it's clear that Kyoya's not happy with how she addresses him or asks him to address her as Mama. How Nana-san doesn't seem to pay any mind to Kyoya's simple request of, "Hibari-san."

Yea, the older boy is annoyed and something tells him that trying to apologize on her behalf wouldn't fly with Kyoya. Before leaving, TK made sure to leave his room open so that Tokomon could get out of his room so that the Digimon could get to the kitchen to eat. Neither of them feel like telling Nana-san about Tokomon being more then a stuff toy nor does he feel comfortable in the woman's presence, likely due to the fact that he doesn't consider the woman to be his actual mother.

"Hibari-san, thank you for keeping me company." He tells the older boy, being sure to do a polite bow as well once they get to the school, he didn't know where the school was located nor did Nana-san seem interested in walking him to school. TK hadn't known what he was going to do about this decision of going straight back to school even though he's behind on his lessons and he just got released yesterday.

He thought Nana-san had been pulling his leg about sending him to school the next day but, it turned out, she wasn't. It's mind spinning that she hadn't interacted with him for a good nine months and now, she just wants to act like he'd never been in a coma or that he still needs to see a physiotherapist and nutritionist while taking it easy. It's rather sobering that all those doctors, nurses, and volunteers were right to worry on his behalf and it causes him to wonder how it was Nana-san managed to keep custody of him.

Kyoya reaches out, ruffles his still rather puffy brunet hair, before nodding and walking off. TK couldn't help but smile, after all, it's clear that he's managed to worm his way through the other boy's defenses if Kyoya is comfortable enough to touch him. And so, the current brunet kind of wanders around outside for a few minutes before entering the building to find a teacher to ask direction to his classroom.

"Oh, hey! You're new?" TK blinks before turning to regard the kid who'd been standing near the door he just opened.

"Kind of? Sawada Tsunayoshi, though I prefer to answer to TK then to Tsuna." He introduces himself. The other sports light brown hazel eyes and, of course, black hair.

"Yo, Yamamoto Takeshi and I don't have any nicknames that I know of!" Yamamoto-kun says with a surprisingly easy smile. "And how are you kind of new?"

"I think I went to school here before my time in the hospital. It's hard to recall, really, cause it was almost a year ago, you know?" And Yamamoto-kun nods sage like upon hearing this information, likely translating it to mean ages ago in child's sense of time.

"Oh, so, your better then? I mean, you're out of the hospital right?" Yamamoto-kun asks curiously after taking a look at him.

"I'm still needing to visit the hospital for check ups and other stuff." He tells the other boy, who's walking slightly before him and walking backwards as they walk down the school hallway. "Kind of didn't believe I'd be coming to school today, though." He admits honestly and it's clear that Yamamoto-kun is rather interested in the reason why.

"Well, how come? And where's your mother? Or is she already talking with a teacher?" The other asks.

"I just got out yesterday and, well, she didn't seem interested in walking me to school today or giving me information about, well, anything. I mean, I don't even know which class I'm in or who my teacher is." He lets some of his honest annoyance and frustration show. "I'm suppose to be taking it easy and I haven't seen her in months until the day before yesterday."

Yea, the few questions he asked her kind of seem to go over Nana-san's head about why she didn't inset on visiting him once he woke up. What he's gathered, it was the fact she didn't want to distract the doctors and nurses from helping her 'Tsu-kun' get better. In someways, that seems to explain Sawada Nana in a nutshell but he could be wrong, he rather hopes he's wrong about that, because other wise, what the hell and how is it that nobody picked up on what's Wrong with her?

"Wait, really? But, but that's got to be some kind of crime! Against nature!" Yamamoto-kun exclaims in outrage with wide eyes and clearly getting worked up on his behalf.

"Ah... mind escorting me to the principal's office?" He decides to ask and Yamamoto-kun blinks before coming to the realization that they've been walking for sometime. "Oh, yea, I can do that!"

With that, Yamamoto-kun moves forward to grip his left wrist and pulls him along, he smiles at the clear excitement in those light brown hazel eyes. After all, Yamamoto-kun's energy is kind of infectious.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Well, are we sure that this is a good idea?" Tokomon asks as they wait for the newly purchase laptop to install its updates. The computer had been his request as his Birthday gift from Nana.

"It can't hurt to try plus, at least this way, you'll have something to use while I'm at school." TK points out calmly and his partner huffs at the reminder. "I promised never to stick you into my gym bag ever again if you decide to come with me to school." He points out.

"I don't see why you can't just take those tests to advance to a higher grade." His best friend asks. "I mean, the history might be different then you recall but most of the rest should be simple enough for you to pass."

"Vongola." He gently reminds the Digimon. "Until we figure out how to get you to Digivolve, you can't protect me very well and I'm just a beginning those self-defense lessens, never mind that I'm still a touch underweight."

"I rather we don't draw attention of that Famiglia." TK continues, his hair is still possesses some brown in it but it's a great deal more tamed and shorter, no longer defying gravity in spiky form. "Plus, there's the orange fire that I can call up and we don't know what it's about besides that there's secrecy around it or we'd likely see people on tv using it."

"Ok, yea, your right but it's also unlikely that there's a Digital World to access, you know. It might never had been created at all because humans have that fire ability." The Digimon points out and he knows his partner is right.

"At the very least, we'll know if you can enter into the internet then." He remarks as the laptop is now rebooting now that it's installed the updates. "And if you can, then think of the possibilities when it comes to finding answers about this fire that I now possess."

"Still think orange is an odd color for a fire." Tokomon muses and he glances towards his current in-training partner. "Your orange as a rookie and Tai's crest was orange."

"Point but, well, your crest was yellow." The Digimon remarks, which should mean that if he's to weld any fire, it should be yellow in color, not orange. "Also, you think you'll go through and get a necklace made that looks like the tag and crest?"

"I might, once I save up enough money and find someone who I think will do a good job creating it." He admits as the screen loads. Clicking various ok buttons, he sighs and leans back, allowing Tokomon to walk onto his lap as he sits cross legged on the bed before the computer.

"Ready to give it a go?" He asks after a few seconds. "I guess so." His best friend admits with a slight sigh.

Humming, TK closes his eyes and reaches within, while the fire does rush to greet him, he continues to reach deeper and pass where the fire has made itself at home within his being. _There you are._ He thinks to himself and the orange fire is quick to help him touch at reserve of power, so much so that he's not prepared for the rush and then a pull into something.

"TK!" He hears Patamon cry out and feels something head butting his right side of his head. Groaning, he opens his eyes only to find, well, it's not what he expected yet, it'll do.

Moving to sit up, he cradles his partner to his chest and glances around the room, not overly impressed with the sight of those eight people, although to be fair, seven of them look more... alive then they had from before while the eighth one still got this droopy, vacant look. It's clear they don't know what to expect in regard to Patamon, given the bewildering looks upon their faces and questioning looks sent to one another.

"Is Giotto awake?" He asks as he moves to stand, yea, he's a kid still and there's some alarmed looks shared among the crowd. Patamon is quick to climb onto his right shoulder, turning around with some help from him as he waits for someone to speak up.

"Aren't you a little... young to have met him?" The only woman asks upon six of the men's eyes land on her, clearly choosing her to speak with him for some reason.

"Do I need to be an adult and blond with wings of fire to be recognized now?" He inquires and that sets the group off as their eyes bug out. It seems that yea, they had some awareness of the bullshit they pulled on their first meeting.

Well, all except the droopy looking guy. "What's wrong with him?" Patamon asks curiously while the others bunch up to talk among themselves.

"Oh, that's the Ninth, he's still alive so..." One of the men explains upon glancing towards said man. Which is kind of disturbing actually, given that it implies that they are all haunting this place and are aware of that on some level.

Then again, it's not like the topic of who the others were came up in their one time encounter. Giving the others a look, he heads for where he last recalled the throne being and sure enough, there's steps to walk up and he finds the blond fast asleep upon the throne. Taking a second to study how peaceful the man is, he moves to the side of the throne and then pulls on the sleeve.

Giotto isn't quick to wake and upon looking at him, anger is quick to chase away the sleep with orange bleeding into those blue eye before blinking in surprise and the eyes are back to being blue. "TK?" The man asks and he nods.

"This is my partner, Patamon. He was with us during our last meeting, though not in possession of a physical body." He says and Patamon greets Giotto with a simple hello.

"Partner." There's a hint of bewilderment and a look of 'please explain.' He hums as he considers this before rather startled by the man reaching over as casual as can be and lifting him onto his lap. He's not really sure what to make of this development, yet for some reason Giotto doesn't look the least bit sorry concerning his action.

"You're a kid." Giotto remarks with ease and he snorts. "Still have the mind set of a grown up." He points out, but, well, it's not as awkward as it should be, then again, he's had time to grow use to people looking at him and seeing a child, thus getting treated as one, even if he's more mature then kids his age should be.

"It's been ages since I got to have a kid on my lap, so please, indulge my selfish desire to pretend that we're somewhere other then in this place." Oh look, it seems that Giotto is a natural at using what's termed puppy eyes as he's still able to use them as an adult. "I guess there's no harm..." He admits and Patamon chuckles so badly that his best friend ends up falling down into his shoulder.

"So... Partner?" Giotto inquires again and he hums thoughtfully. "Well, it all started back when I was originally eight years old and was on a camping trip with my older brother..."

To be honest, he's not sure when the other men and the solo woman came to listen to his story but it's clear that he's still good at keeping people interested in his stories and Patamon is more then happy to play his part upon getting the right que from him. Still, it's clear that they were a captive audience as they did ask insightful questions to get a clearer picture of something that confused them or picked up on a certain detail that he'd been down playing. Still, it's clear that they weren't bored but they also didn't understand how none of them ever thought to try and do anything with that energy that allowed their partners to Digivolve, particularly once they found out what the Digivice was, that it was a tool used to help them access that energy.

Which was telling in its own way, really, particularly as more then a few of them wondered if they couldn't weaponize the energy for their own, personal goals or to ensure the complete destruction of enemy Digimon, to keep them from reformatting. Still, after questions got answered and there's no more to his story, the seven heading off, clearly musing over how they'd act or react to the situation. "I shouldn't be that surprised, huh?" He muses. "Of the direction of their thoughts went, I mean."

"They grew up with different values." Agrees Giotto. "Come from different culture as well."

"They always knew they were going to be power over the lives of people." Patamon pipes in and he glances down at his partner. "They grew up thinking that the only way they can get what they want was through violence and more violence."

"Always tearing others down, in one form or another." Agree Giotto. "The Ninth's got his own personal Hitman at his beck and call, then again, he had him even before things went south between Xanxus and himself."

"Doesn't trust the Varia any more, but then, that's hardly surprising given what happened between their Sky and Timotoe." The blond continues. "The man burnt any good will the boy ever had for him, what with always dangling the idea of him able to become Don of the Vongola Famiglia."

"Not much you can from here, huh?" TK notes and Giotto is looking down at the crowd, likely at a certain member of the collective Dons. "Correct." Giotto admits and the man places a arm about his shoulders, pulling him in for a one armed hug.

It's clear that Giotto still care, despite the actions of Ricardo and his descendants, and it must be a special kind of torture to know there's little he can do to alter the course of actions the Famiglia takes or the path that it continues to go down. "Still don't want anything to do with your Famiglia, Giotto." He states, which causes Giotto to break out of his clearly depressing thoughts to stare with slightly wide eyes at him.

Patamon snorts and chuckles while the blond uses his other hand to face palm. "I wasn't... I didn't..." Denies the man.

"Yes, I get that but at the same time, I'm also here and am inhabiting a body that's descended from any kids you had in Japan." TK points out and that seems to cause Giotto to stiffen in alarm. "What?" The man asks.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi ended up in a coma after a visit by his father and his father's boss." He tells Giotto and the man's face pales with wide eyes. "Nobody knows the cause of the coma but, well, the condition of the body was..."

He looks away from the man, not really wanting to see the realization of the fact that the Ninth had likely killed an almost five year old kid and instead of the child recovering, a dead man ended up in said body and that body is slowly altering to match the soul now inhabiting it. "Three months and I wake to find Patamon at my right side along with being in a hospital. Even now, this body is underweight and it's been... altering itself because I'm in it."

"I don't want anything to do with them, Giotto." He repeats himself softly as he looks down at Patamon. "Not after knowing that the only reason I have a second chance at life is because a child's own was cut short because of something they chose to do."

Patamon snuggles into him as he feels his eyes burn with the familiar sensation of tears and feels them move down his cheeks. Giotto, well, he just pulls him close with both arms and lets him cry and if there's a few extra tears staining the other's jacket and shirt, well, it hardly matter as this is place where the living rarely visit.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Well, at least we didn't end up in Vongola Sky Ring." He remarks as he glances around the 'park' and Patamon just hums in agreement. For the pass month, whenever they attempted to enter into the internet, they kept getting sent to the 'resting' place of the Giotto and the Vongola Mafia Dons, he did argue with Giotto once about the fact that he might have founded a vigilante organization, it was Ricardo who is, in fact, the first, proper Mafia Don of the Vongola Famiglia.

It's a sore point and it's a topic they agree they will always be sporting different view point, much to the other ghosts' and Patamon's amusement. And yea, both Patamon and him did get around to actually talking with the other ghosts, well, save for droopy and, well, he's pretty sure that when the Ninth finally kicks the bucket that he'll wish he'd done something other then place a Flame Seal on a recently Active Sky, particularly one who's related by blood to both himself and to Giotto because the others plan to forever make their displeasure known, then when Giotto mentioned Xanxus' getting 'iced' that just seems to be when the 'physical' torture was added as it seems that the Seventh Don, who's name is Daniela and is the Ninth's mother along with being the only woman Don of the Famiglia, was pissed by this course of action on behalf of her favorite 'grandson', who's actually adopted yet does possess a bit of Vongola blood.

Xanxus can't inherit as there are heirs out in the wider Alliance that have thicker blood ties to Famiglia but, well, if they all pass on wanting to inherit, then Xanxus might be stand to inherit, as long as all the others are willing to sign a Mist Contract stating they believe Xanxus is the better opinion and that he marries a woman with the right blood to continue the Famiglia. Which means people doing actual work and tracking down various family trees along with ensuring that the person in question is also a Sky. Daniela, privately, admitted that the reasons Xanxus is her favorite as to do with the teen's priorities and his loyalty to the Famiglia at large given the fact that none of her other grandsons possessed half the drive Xanxus displayed or half of his skill with using his Flame.

Still, he's not sure if he'll ever meet the teen as nobody knows what kind of effects being frozen in Zero Point Breakthrough: First Edition will have on Xanxus' body, Flames, mind, or spirit. Yea, the Ninth Don is not going to enjoy his first few decades of his afterlife in the Vongola Sky Ring. And given it seems they finally managed to access the internet without Giotto's aid, he's got high hopes of avoiding the Vongola Sky Ring once the man is dead.

They tour the 'park' and notice the various links that can pop up while ignoring and avoiding any advertisements. "Well, ready to see if we can pull out before returning?" He asks and Patamon nods.

As they exit out of the online webpage for Yellowstone National Park, Patamon becomes Tokomon yet again, much to his partner's annoyance, still, once ready, he manages to return to the 'park' starting point with Patamon restored to his rookie stage. The next thing he does it check out how the site menu interact with them and it doesn't really do much beyond open screens that he can read, scrolling up and down before closing them. They walk towards a nice part of the park and rest under a tree as they fake animals repeat actions and reactions for a bit.

"Hungry?" He teases his best friend and Patamon looks a touch embarrassed until his own stomach growls. "Hungry?" Patamon parrots back.

"Yip!" He states shamelessly and the rookie chuckles but takes to the air with a few ear flaps. They head for the starting point and something grabs them before they fully leave the site.

TK's not the only one to stiffen as they find themselves in what can only be the Dark Ocean. His heart is hammering inside of his chest while Patamon lands on his head. "TK?"

"I know, I know." He tells his friend, after all, it didn't feel like that long ago that he'd visited this place, let alone climbed up a cliff. He's not happy with them being here and it takes a bit for his eyes to begin scanning the land instead of starting out at the water, expecting glowing crimson eyes to be looking at them from the depths of the water.

"TK..." And he asks, "What is it, Patamon?"

"I... I hear crying." His friend reports softly and with a touch of uncertainty. "Where?" He requests softly.

Following Patamon's directions, the DigiDestine of Hope finds a kid, not as old as Kyoya but not as young as TK himself. The crimson eyes glare at him as he approaches, warning him off, "He's ours... He's ours! You won't be able to help him, Hope, you can barely help yourself!"

"If you are so certain, then you don't have anything to worry about, huh?" He remarks in a cold tone with anger lacing his being as he marches forward, not pausing for a second. The beings back off as he gets close enough to make out their forms and he feels his fire want out, to burn that which angers him but it's not the shadows that hold his attention, it's the boy who's hair is a shade of blue and clearly too thin, never mind the way something dances around the boy's frame, offering a kind of light.

"Hey." He gently calls out as he gets within a few feet, close but not too close. "You want to get out of here?"

There's sniffling and he's pretty sure the boy is eyeballing him now, although his eyes are hidden by his bangs. Then the boy's body shakes, out of fear or something else. Still, he doesn't move nor does he takes his eyes off of the kid, he notices how he can see that light a touch more clearly, it's a shade of indigo and it dances like fire does, marking this boy as possessing Mist Flame as his primary. Then the indigo fire surges forward suddenly and he feels Patamon jerk while he feels his own Sky Flame come forward, likely causing his eyes to glow orange. The boy is looking up now, allowing him to see his whole face and he notices how blank looking the left eye seems to be compared to the right.

He doesn't react as Mist Flame moves to tug on his shirt or come straight for his face before verging off to all sides. There's a huff and a slight squawk from both the boy and Patamon but, in the end, the boy's Flame retreats and Patamon isn't as tense as he once was. The boy looks away from TK's face and focuses on Patamon, who's still resting on his head.

Confusion and uncertainty are there, in the boy's face while the one eye is shines with curiosity and wistfulness. "Who are you? What is that?" The boy asks after sometime, now focus back on TK.

"Who I am? Well, I was once born Takeru Takaishi, known better as TK growing up but now, well, I still prefer to answer to TK but the name now is Tsunayoshi Sawada." He admits truthfully and he's pretty sure the kid before he could detect if he's trying to lie to him. "And Patamon is my Digimon partner, both my own personal protector and best friend rolled into one."

"Digi... Mon." The Mist boy tastes the word and repeats it a few times before a frown appears on the other's face. "It... never mind." The boy looks away and for a second, he is strongly reminded of Ken.

"Sorry for not being a Miracle." He remarks and that startles the kid. "But, well, Hope is all I can offer." He admits with a slight smile which causes the kid to blink a few times at him.

"I could use some Hope right about now." Admits the boy, who is clearly puzzled, and yet, clearly something clicks inside the kid. "Kindness isn't a weakness, you know." He offers his hand once he moves to stand next to the other.

The kid takes his hand and upon being pulled up, "Still ended up here." The kid remarks with a touch of bitterness.

"So did Light and, not that long ago, Hope." He admits and it's clear that whoever this is, he is likely Ken's reincarnation or maybe he's able to pick up traces of Ken's presence? "I'm sorry but I didn't get your name."

Confusion in both eyes now, for the left blank one has regained color. "But, you already know it, don't you? Aren't we friends, TK?"

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other, Ken. I might have regained my looks but this body isn't originally my own." He admits and Ken slowly nods. "Yea, I guess so... I mean, your eyes are orange when they should be blue."

"Well, your hair is more of a light blue then an almost purple." He remarks and Ken's eyes go cross eyed, which causes Patamon to giggle. Which draws Ken's attention to Patamon.

"I can't explain him." TK admits to his friend as he feels something settle between Ken and himself. "He kind of, caught up with me or something."

"I'm just happy he's here by my side again." Patamon explains and its clear Ken is conflicted before saying, "There's this lab and... They keep... It's so hard and I keep watching the others..."

He pulls Ken in for a hug and his Sky Flames reach out to sooth Ken's Mist while the now older DigiDestine cries. His nose sniffles before he finds himself joining Ken in crying, because there's memories coming from Ken's own mind that are playing out in his head.

As they are spent of tears and are emotionally drained, Ken looks down upon pulling away. "Wormmon?" Ken asks and the green rookie Digimon is clinging there, also clearly having been crying as well. "Oh Ken!"

He sniffles but watches as the two are reunited, what with Ken giving Wormmon a hug while Wormmon promises to do his best to protect him and for leaving him alone. He'd wager that even if Ken didn't have his full memories now that he'll get them in time. "Ok, about that lab, Ken, you can do something about it." TK begins once the two weren't clinging to each other like each others' life line.

Ken looks at him, curious yet wary, for good reason. "You know those flames you've been calling up and bending to your will?" It takes a few seconds before the reincarnated Ken to wince but the other nods while Wormmon looks a touch worried.

"They are Mist Flames, their property is Construction." He explains, recalling the information Giotto gave him and which the Vongola Dons help expand on, mostly out of boredom of nothing better to do. And so, he give examples of what Ken can do with his Mist Flame along with the fact that its potential is limitless as long as Ken believes he can do it or cause it to happen. Which, well, leads to a minor breakdown as Ken doesn't want another Digimon Emperor thing to happen, which, well, he assures Ken won't happen as long as he's alive and able to pull him back from the edge.

"Also, before we leave, my address in Japan is..." And he gives Ken and Wormmon his address and the home phone number, after all, Ken will need a place to live once he's pulled off an escape with those other kids. He also gives Ken a list of various orphanages that the Vongola run that are suited to dealing with Flame Active children, as he's pretty sure neither of them know which part of Italy the lab holding Ken and the kids were.

"I know you can do this Ken." He tells the Mist as they prepare to leave. Ken clearly has his own doubts but Wormmon should be able to help boaster his fellow DigiDestine. "After all, you have those kids counting on you to do this." He adds and little remember is enough for Ken's resolve to firm up.

"Your right, this isn't just about me, it's also about them as well and getting them out." Ken states, reminding himself that it's not for his own sake that the Mist needs to use the powers of his current life but also for the sake of those kids that were trapped there with him.

Wormmon and Ken fade away a good few seconds before Patamon and himself. "He'll be already, he's got Wormmon to keep him company." He says and Patamon nods in agreement. "Right!"

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Ken!" He's quick to pull in the other boy, it's been a good two month since that incident in the Dark Ocean and as Ken returns the hug, it's clear that the Mist and fellow DigiDestine relaxes while his own Sky Flame reaches out to hug Ken's own Flame. "Welcome home." He whispers in Ken's ear.

"Glad to be home." Ken whispers back and then they part, he moves from blocking the door way. Ken enters into the door and he catches sight of Minomon poking out of the top of the backpack. "Hey TK!" The in-training Digimon cries out and he gives the other partner Digimon a warm smile.

"Minomon." He greets and then Tokomon comes charging from the couch once he's closed the front door. "Ken! Minomon!"

"So it's not just Minomon, huh?" Ken asks with a slight smile as Minomon pops out of the backpack, leaping onto the floor. "Yea, it's not just him." He agrees, "I can't recall if you've ever seen Patamon's in-training stage before."

"More like heard of it and seen a few drawings." The other muses and that makes sense, after all, he did write those books and they had been popular reading for kids and preteens. "Tokomon, right?"

"Yip!" His partner chirps while leading Minomon on a tour of the kitchen, the most important room in any Digimon's books. "I'll show you to your room."

"So, your mom doesn't mind my living with you?" TK sighs at the question, after all, that implies he thinks of the woman as his mother in the first place. "Nana-san... There wasn't much of a reaction when I informed her that I know someone from Italy who needed a place to live only for her to worry about whether you'd like some Italian style meals instead of typical Japanese dishes."

"I believe I'm going to be forever amazed that she still has custody of me and I'm certain that the staff at the hospital agree with me on that." He admits as he turns to look at Ken when he explains that. "After all, right after I was released from the hospital after a stay of a good nine months, she sent me off to school, without thinking of walking me there or informing the school that I was going to be attending the school, like, at all."

Ken is clearly surprised by this admission and he gives the other boy a weak smile. "If not for Hibari-kun, I likely would have wandered around Namimori for a few hours before returning to the house." He admits.

"And your father? Or are they divorced?" The other asks.

"Iemitsu? Just sends money and the odd postcard, I believe. Last time he visited... Well, I ended waking up in this body, who'd been in a coma for about three months." He explains. "No other kid save for me, which is likely fortunate given I'm pretty sure neither of them should have reproduced in the first place." _Let alone raise any of the resulting kids._ Was left unsaid.

Ken winces and he sighs. "It is what it is." He states. "The man is married to his job and to the Famiglia. He's also possesses Sky Flames and while he might have done something to Nana-san, he's not around to reinforce it, so it's not like the blame for how she is rests solely on him."

"Is she Active?" His Mist, for Ken is his, and friend asks. "If she is, she's long since turned her Flame on herself." He admits and turns to face the forward, continuing up the stairs.

"Big house." Ken notes as he leads him to one of the unused rooms. "Someone planning on having a large family."

"Or bought it out of a guilty conscious." He muses. "I had two extra keys cut for the house for you to have. They're both on the same key ring."

Ken walks over to the desk and notices said key ring, which sported a thicker metal accessory with the crest of Kindness on it. As Ken holds it up, it's clear that the other is touched. "I've got one with my own. I'm still looking for someone to make a decant duplicate of my tag and crest."

"Thanks, TK." Ken says and he nods before taking a second to add, "Ah, your paper work, for attending school... I suggest you do pick one of the local schools. Hibari-kun is a big fan of kids attending school."

"And Hibari is?" The other asks curiously. "Hibari Kyoya is someone who's taken it on himself to keep small animals safe from uppity herbivores and fake carnivores." He uses Kyoya's own descriptions.

"He's about three years older then me and not the most social of people. Also, a little hellion and more then happy to 'bite' people to 'death' for not following the rules, bullying, and crowding up his space." He admits.

Ken laughs and remarks, "What an interesting person for you to befriend, TK."

"Kind of reminds me a little of Matt, actually. Just a little." He exits the room as Minomon comes bouncing into the room, more then excited about how much more room they have and how happy he is for a chance to eat a home cooked meal.

"Good tour?" He asks Tokomon, who's waiting for him near the stairs. "Good tour!" Agree his best friend.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Hibari-kun, this is Ichijouji Ken. Ken, this is Hibari Kyoya." TK does the introduction and now the two are eyeing each other up, which is kind of bewildering as he hadn't expected Ken to do more then be polite. In some way, it's like watching two cat get all huffy and puffy, both ready to strike. Maybe toss in some hissing and yowling for good measure.

Then again, from what he's learnt from Giotto and those Dons, Clouds and Mists either get on with each like a house on fire or like a cat and dog. Which firms up his opinion that Kyoya does possess Cloud Flames, but he's pretty sure there's a secondary Flame that goes with that primary. In the end, he's got no control over how these two will interact as they are their own people and are capable of making their own decisions, for better or worst, so he'll just lay down the ground rule of them needing to at least appear to tolerate each other in his presence if nothing else.

He waits for one of them to break the silence, which was Kyoya, with a, "Baby omnivore, explain." He notices Ken mouthing the word while clearly being rather amused, given the laughter that seems to be dancing in Ken's eyes.

"Meet him online and he was in a tight spot." He admits. "His relatives weren't treating him and his foster siblings right, I gave what help I could and promised he could come live here, with me and the ewe doesn't mind him living with us."

"I won't be attending the same school as TK and yourself, I suppose. As I believed found one that better suited my educational needs." Ken states and Kyoya takes a few seconds to figure out whether he liked that or not.

"Acceptable." And with that, Kyoya turns and walks away from the front porch before Nana-san could register that he's picking him up for school. "Bye Ken." He says as they part ways.

"Later TK. Hibari-kun." It's clear Kyoya scowls but, well, it wasn't like the his Mist used Kyoya's first name.

As they neared the school, Takeshi comes jogging over with a wide smile upon calling out to both Kyoya and himself. "Hey TK! Hibari-kun!" Yea, Kyoya twitches at Takeshi calling him that but then, the sport enthusiast doesn't always hang out with him a whole lot, after all, there's always someone looking to have Takeshi join a game after school or just hang out, watching the older kids play their respective sport.

With that, Kyoya finds a nice spot to do some people observation and Takeshi gives him a questioning look. "My friend from Italy is living with us now and Hibari-kun met them for the very first time." He explains and Takeshi seems to still for a few seconds.

"Oh, is that so? Is he attending our school?" Takeshi recovers and acts like that stillness hadn't happened.

"Nope, he's going to be attending that private one, I forgot the name." He tells the other boy, not really sure what to make of that reaction that seems rather out of character for him. "He's also a year older then us, so he wouldn't have shared the same classes as us either."

"Oh, looks like I got to run... Although, by the way, what's his name?" Takeshi inquires with a slight intense look.

"Ichijouji Ken." He informs the other, who hums thoughtfully before giving him a wide grin and jogging off, leaving him to wonder about why Takeshi would react like that, after all, the other isn't even Flame Active nor do they hang out a whole lot either, not that he didn't like Takeshi and he's pretty sure Takeshi doesn't mind talking with him, it just... odd in the end.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"How was school?" He asks Ken once he's home with Tokomon curled up on his lap with Minomon resting on Ken's left side. They're on the couch with the tv muted as it's just commercials playing out on the screen.

"I'd expected to be more overwhelming then what I encountered." Admitted Ken and he hums a sound of understanding, after all, he thought school would be worst then what it was, but then, Takeshi was more then happy to pave the way between his classmates and himself. "It also wasn't that challenging."

"I know what you mean, but it's really history and literature that different." He muses. "Did you know that Italy never joined the Axis Powers here? They were neutral. The Euro became a thing before the first Great War." He recalls and Ken blinks.

"Hitler?" He winces. "Assassinated in the early years of the Reich and then held up as a martyr of the cause." Ken blinks, trying to wrap his mind around that bit of information.

"Ok, yea, not just the little things then." Ken muses and he nods. "Yea. Also, some of the novels and plays can be different and there's different wording used at times, or the whole play's focus is about something else."

"Different tv shows and movies as a result." The other boy realizes. Which is when the door bell rings and seeing how Nana-san is busy clearing the bathroom upstairs, he scoops up Tokomon, who shifts a bit but remains sleeping to answer the door.

"Hey TK!" Takeshi is standing at the door with a frowning Kyoya about three feet away from the door. "Hey Takeshi-kun. Hibari-kun. What brought you both over?" He asks curiously as he notices how Takeshi's eyes land on Tokomon while Kyoya answers, "This small animal wanted to visit."

With that, Kyoya turns and walks off in what will likely one day be a stalking march. "Cute." Takeshi remarks and he glances back at said boy, who's back to smiling at him.

"I guess, come in. Ken is on the couch." He says, moving to let the other enter, who does. "Oh, cool."

Closing the door, Takeshi finishes putting on a pair of slippers. "Ken, this is a classmate and friend from school, Yamamoto Takeshi. Takeshi, this is Ichijouji Ken." His fellow DigiDestine smiles. "Nice to meet you."

"Yea, you too." Takeshi swings around the couch and notices Minomon resting on Ken's left. "Did you want anything in particular to drink, Takeshi?" He places a more awake Tokomon onto the couch cushion next to Ken.

"I'm good, I'm good." But he heads for the kitchen for a glass of water regardless while Takeshi begins grilling Ken about what's his favorite sport and then talking about said sport. Big surprise, it's soccer, then again, it's basketball for himself. "Here." He says as he puts down the glass where Takeshi could reach it.

"Thanks, TK!" Takeshi says with a grin and he glances toward Ken to find that there's amusement in his fellow Flame Active eyes. He kind of has to wonder what's so amusing, given he's pretty sure that Takeshi is here for a meet and greet with Ken.

He moves to sit back in his spot, he'd reach for Tokomon but figured his best friend is comfortable next to Ken. "So, Ichijouji-kun, did you know that TK likes to play basketball?" And Ken hums a bit before inquiring, "And what sport is your favorite, Yamamoto-kun?"

"Ah, I don't have any particular one, as of yet, but baseball looks fun, what with trying to hit the ball really far with a bat. Then trying to steal a base when you do send the ball flying." Takeshi answers.

The topic drifts to homework and Takeshi admits to having trouble understanding the lessons, also of rushing through his homework more often then not. He admits to having trouble remember important dates while Ken has the excuse of having been home schooled before coming to Japan.

Nana-san comes down and beams at the sight of Takeshi. "Oh Tsu-kun, who's your new little friend?" She asks and he does introduction between Takeshi and her, although, for some reason, Takeshi seems like he just figured out some kind of mystery or puzzle and is very smug about it.

 _Well, ok, I guess?_ He mentally shrugs while Nana-san insists that Takeshi stay for dinner and there's a touch of wistfulness about why 'Kyo-kun' doesn't want to join them. "Should you maybe, check in with your parents, Takeshi? To be sure that it's ok?" After all, they might have something to say about their son missing out on dinner tonight without a heads up.

"Yea, I should." He gets up and leads Takeshi to the phone. "I guess Ichijouji-kun is an ok guy." Takeshi states with a slightly serious look in his light hazel eyes.

"Ah, good to know?" The blond six year old says in a questioning tone, wondering just what to make of this statement and wonders why Takeshi thought he needed the other boy's approval. Takeshi gently nudges his shoulder and he slowly shakes his head with a bemused smile on his face. "I'll be back on the couch."

Takeshi nods and he heads to pick up Tokomon from next to Ken. "He approves of you, by the way." He remarks to Ken and the older boy just smiles.

"He's protective, both of them are." Remarks Ken. "From what little I've found out, that's a good trait for a Sky's Guardians to have."

"Oh yea, I hear about that. Although most of those Don's 'Guardians' are politically appointed to strengthen a Famiglia connections then any true match these days." He tells Ken and it's clear that Ken hear such accusations.

"Our bond isn't like that and I'd wager that, given time and when they become Active, it will be true bonds as well." Ken remarks and he smiles a touch as he reaches out to feel Ken's Mist. TK can feel Ken notice him reaching out for him with his Flames.

"Hopefully, that will be a long time before either of them become Active." He says and Ken hums, gently pushing his Flames back. "Things should be peaceful for now."

"So, that's Takeshi then?" Tokomon muses as he moves to put his best friend onto his left shoulder, moving him so that Tokomon is facing forward. "Yea, that's Takeshi." He says softly.

Glancing towards where his classmate is using the phone, he says, "I didn't expect he'd visit." Tokomon merely hums as Takeshi is done with the phone.

"I'm sorry, Sawada-san, but my parents expect me home. It was nice meeting you, Sawada-san." Takeshi says, adding in a polite bow.

"Oh well, I'll be sure to have my Tsu-kun invite you over then." Nana-san says in a light tone. "And maybe shy Kyo-kun will be up to joining us as well."

He moves to walk Takeshi to the door and Takeshi's eyes land on Tokomon. "Your favorite, huh?" The other asks.

"My best friend." TK states with a slight smile. "He's been my protector for a pretty long time, too."

"Such a brave little guy then!" Takeshi remarks with closed eyes and a wide smile. "That he is, that he is." He agrees with a beaming smile that seems to soften his classmate's look in his eyes, with a touch of guilt from the gently teasing.

"Bye Takeshi, see you in school tomorrow!" He says as he holds the door open. "Bye." Takeshi says and he watches as the other walks off the property.

"Nice to put a face with a name." Tokomon remarks and he smiles, whispering softly, "Yea, I guess it is."

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Meet Irie Shoichi, TK." Ken says with a big, wide smile with mischief sparking in the Mist's eyes. "Shoichi-kun, this is Sawada Tsunayoshi, he prefers TK though."

"Hi." Irie manages to croak out while he gives the slightly younger boy a warm smile, "Hello, Irie-kun. It's a pleasure to met a friend of Ken's."

The red head kid relaxes, it seems that he succeed in coming across as friendly and put the kid at ease. "I'm not sure if we're friends, actually." Admits Irie, sending a glance towards the now walking away DigiDestine of Kindness.

"He has never introduced me to anyone before or even mentioned anyone from school and he's been living at the house for the past year." The blond Sky admits with a touch of dryness as he glances at Ken for a few seconds before focusing his attention back on Irie.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense, I never heard of you either or that he's living with another family." The red head admits. 'Is he a cousin?"

"Orphan and had a rough foster family in Italy that he managed to escape from along with his foster siblings." He explains. "We talked a bit and I offered him a place to live when he made sure his siblings were settled."

"That's kind of you." Irie says with an impressed look although there's a touch of sympathy, likely meant for Ken. "Has he talked with someone about it?"

"Yea, he has." He admits, sure had been a surprise to find that Giotto would tag along out of the Vongola Sky Ring and end up in a semi-physical body upon exiting the laptop. Yea, Giotto couldn't spend a lot of time in that form but at least Ken had somebody he didn't mind venting to and on.

Not that it helped ease Giotto's already massive guilt complex but, well, at least it helps the Flame Ghost to feel like he's making an actual difference with someone who clearly needs it. Minomon is just happy that Ken isn't suppressing the trauma and talking about it, even if that someone isn't Minomon himself. Ken's has recently forgiven him for bringing Giotto out of the Vongola Sky Ring and set the man's sights on him as someone who needed help.

"So, what kind of subjects are you interested in?" He asks Irie curiously, after all, both Ken and him have concluded they needed to figure out a way to create a Digivice to help them manage the energy the possess in regards to being DigiDestine. They both are not the right weight or in possession of the right muscle mass for their age, then there's the fact that having one should help them their Digimon partners, as neither of them can Digivolve into their rookie forms unless they were in cyberspace of the internet or in the respective Vongola Ring realms. Nor can the two Digivolve into their champion forms either, even in cyberspace.

"Oh, I'm interested in a lot of different topics but I don't think you want to stand around here and listen to me ramble on and on about the soft sciences or even the hard sciences." The kid admits with a touch of despair and bitterness. "Nobody really does."

"Well, both Ken and I have a project involving computer coding." He tells Irie after a few seconds of silence. It's clear that Irie perks up, eyes laser focus on him now. "A managing of a flow of data in a wireless format between two networks. It's a sharing problem between them I believe." He isn't sure if he really explained right but its clear that Irie is already considering the problem and, perhaps, working out a number of solutions.

TK finds himself reminded of Izzy for a moment before pushing that line of thought aside. After all, it's not fair to Irie to compete with the memory of a dead friend and fellow DigiDestine as the two might seem to have the same similarities they also likely have their different reasons for why they possess certain characteristics that they seem to share. _That doesn't mean Irie couldn't help us though._

"Ah, sorry for spacing out." Irie says as Ken returns with a cold drink plus his meal order in a paper brown bag. "Oh, ah, hey Ken. TK mentioned you two were having trouble with managing a wireless connection between two networks, I assume they are offline and possess no hard line connection between them?"

Ken gives him a sideways look with a raised eyebrow and he gives the other a slight shrug. "Well, it felt like that's the problem." He defends his wording, after all, he's never been one for computers outside of using them for the most basic of reasons.

"Well, thinking of it in that way, you are not wrong, I guess." Ken admits. "We did keep thinking of it like a power problem and not an issue with managing data."

"I'm still no expert with it comes to these kind of things." He admits with a slight frustrated sigh and Ken response by saying, "Well, you only started studying up on this in the last four months. It's kind of too soon to say if you fully lack talent or it's just a lack of interest."

"And Ken is asking you for help?" Irie asks in a slightly awed way, reminding him that they have somebody with them. It takes a second to give Ken a look that reads 'what does he mean by that?'

His fellow DigiDestine gives him a disarming smile, that brings to mind the Ken who'd moonlighted as the Digimon Emperor, as Ken replies, "It is a very recent project and I have been helping him get caught up on the material."

 _He better not have a villainous laugh._ TK thinks to himself as he excuses himself to go order from the counter. Irie is beginning to figure out how to speak his current thoughts out loud and its clear that they might need to grab him something to write with and onto as it might help the younger boy organize his thoughts better and to show the work as well.

Still, it looks like they have someone who Ken doesn't need to bring up to snuff to help with this project. Giotto knows a guy who could help in creating the physical devices if they can't 'realize' the device software and blue prints out of the computer. It's then a matter of how to pay said man without alerting either Iemitsu or Timoteo to that fact that someone outside of the Vongola has reached out to this Talbot, who might or might not be the same guy that Giotto knew from life.

He glances towards Irie and after a minute, decides to order something for the younger boy. His Sky Flame comes easily and he then reaches out towards Irie, just to get an idea of what the boy would want. _Huh, so he's a Sun._ TK notices as he gently brushes against the sleeping Flame, getting a feel for what Irie would order from this place.

Paying for it, TK takes the cups and fills his with a bit of ice before filling it with his choice of soda while he straight up fills the one for Irie. Lips on, he unwraps a straw for his drink and then is careful to grab an unwrapped one for Irie, walking towards the pair, he gently nudges Irie to take his cup and the still wrapped straw.

"Ah, thanks." The red head says with a slight look of confusion. "I thought I'd grab you something, I hope you don't mind." He tells the younger boy.

"Oh, you didn't need to do that!" Protects Irie and he replies, "I know, but I wanted to. I hope what I ordered will be to your liking."

Irie looks rather bewildered yet a touched by his kind action. "I'll be back with our order." The blond Sky says and walks back to wait near the counter for the order to be called.

Soon, he's got both paper bags, which he is careful to carry along with his own drink. "Sorry, I don't know which bag contains what." He tells Irie cheerfully upon the pair noticing him waiting, their discussion pauses.

"Oh, yea, of course." Irie and Ken just smiles, looking very pleased and a touch smug. "Well, shall we head off?" His Mist and friend suggests.

"Yea." Irie says and he chimes in with a, "Sure."

They find a nice enough spot and the discussion continues, he does his best to ask questions to clarify what little he understands. They eat their food, Irie is clearly stunned by what he ordered for him but is more then willing to offer to repay him for the price of the meal. And all too soon, it's time for Irie to head home along with Ken and him to run a few errands.

"That proved fruitful." Ken remarks and he levels the Mist a flat look. "What's with that look?"

"You better not be working on a villainous laugh, Ichijouji." And Ken blinks before trying to look innocent. "Seriously, Ichijouji, I will rat you out to Minomon."

"Oh, come on, I'm just method acting." Ken defends himself. "It's nothing but an act."

"And how will you be so sure that where the mask ends and your true self begins, Ken?" The Sky asks softly. Ken shifts his gaze else where.

"I care about you, Tokomon does, and it should go without saying that so does Minomon." He adds softly after a period of silence, slowly walking over to the older boy. He is very deliberate with his action as he gives the other a hug.

"I'll keep that in mind, my Hope filled Sky." Ken whispers as the other returns the hug. "That's all we want you remember, my Mist." He whispers, the blond isn't sure what to make of his latest nickname.

The hug ends and Ken seems to be a touch more relax and the tightness in the other's face is gone, for now at any rate. He's still worried yet, that's to be expected, after all, Ken's time in the lab and the experience done within. Minomon hasn't mentioned much of the lab but, well, that might be due to Ken's request.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Ah..." He is rather sleepy while trying to make sense of the young girl that Ken dropped off onto his bed before vanishing into the internet. "Sleep now." Tokomon mutters sleepily and falling back to sleep.

Stroking Tokomon's back, he moves his sheets to cover the in-training Digimon as he yawns while moving to stand. Rubbing his left eye, he walks over to stare at the girl, who appears to be the age of Irie.

"..." He's not sure what to make of the girl and she's clearly in a daze. "Ah... Did you want something to hug?" TK asks curiously, which seems to snap out of her state to regard him with confusion before she blushes, looking away.

Sighing, he wanders out of the room after handing her a pillow to see if Ken left Minomon in his room. "Minomon?" He knocks on the door and waits a bit before doing so again.

"TK?" He hears Minomon call out with a bit more alarm. He opens the door and the in-training Digimon comes bounding towards him, clearly distressed. "Ken! Where's Ken?!"

"Has he mentioned a girl to you?" He inquires and the prickly Digiomon blinks. "He dropped one off in my room."

"Nagi? Here?!" And Minomon rushes, bounces, into his room.

It takes the blond a few second to register what just happen before glancing towards the master bedroom. It seems that Nana-san is still fast asleep or Ken did something to ensure she would be asleep. "Minomon?" He hears a young girl's voice calls out before sobbing follows after.

Huffing, he walks to his bedroom's door and stares at the sight. It's clear that the two know each other and, well, it's just too much plus he's just too tired. And so, he heads back to Ken's room and calling up his Sky Flame to keep him warm, falls back to sleep, it's too early and he's just too tired to think straight right now.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Morning." Ken whispers as he wakes and he groans as he turns his head while registering the weight upon his back. "My Sky."

"Morning... Ah, what..." He tries to recall when Ken crawled into his bed, only, as he gets a good look at the nightstand within sight. "When did I... end up in your room?"

Ken chuckles a bit but moves to let him sit up. "Well, I think it's due to my dropping Nagi-chan on your bed last night." The other admits and he blinks as he kind of remembers that.

"And why not your own bed?" He asks after yawning and stretching, moving to the side of the bed to get off. "Minomon seemed to be the better one to give comfort, given she seemed familiar with him."

"Ah, well, I... Kind of promised him that I wouldn't... do anything..." Turning his head to look at the Mist. "Rash." Ken looking rather sheepish.

"So... how angry is Minomon with you?" TK asks as he moves to stand up. "Kind of hard to tell, given Nagi-chan is cuddling him." Ken admits.

"Ok, so... How did you end up knowing about her? I don't think she's a local." The blond admits.

"Found her in Kyoto." Admits Ken. "Her... mother is barely worthy of the name. Last night, Nagi-chan reached out with a wish and, well, I granted it."

The blond blinks as he tilts his head to the side as Ken doesn't look at him. "The woman is alive, I just... It was tricky, figuring out how to erase Nagi-chan from her mind, those who knew of her, and physical evidence of the woman having had a daughter."

"Are you... angry? With me?" His Mist, fellow DigiDestine, and, most importantly, friend asks.

"As long as Minomon knew, I really can't object." He means it. "I am your friend first, Ken, before I am your Sky."

"Even though I am keeping secrets from you?" Ken asks and he shrugs, pointing out, "I'm not as much of an open book myself and I have secrets of my own."

"You... aren't that good at keeping those." His friend points out, looking up at him now, with a fond smile upon his face. "But, you... trust me, even given my history as both Ken and..."

"I actually don't know about the lab, neither Giotto or Minomon speak of it." He admits. "I only know of your former crimes as the Digimon Emperor."

"Ah, well, they both did recommend that I talk to you, personally about that time." Admits Ken with a sigh yet it's clear that there's a touch of sad smile. "I had been rather hoping to never have to speak of that time with you. That they had kind of..."

"Broke your confidents?" He sighs. It's not that surprising that there's still trust issues and likely the supposed role of a Mist Guardian doesn't suggest granting them a great deal of trust, never mind that Daemon Spade is still at large and rather deranged.

"It's hard... It's so rather hard... It's not just Ichijouji Ken's memories housed in here." Admits Ken, tapping his left temple with an index finger. He blinks as he considers just what that means.

"There's two other lives besides the memories of the lab." Ken admits but smiles fondly over at him, eyes soften. "But I chose to answer to that name and I chose to hold those memories dear to my heart." He feels Ken's Flames reach for him and he allows them to wrap themselves around his own.

"I chose to Harmonize with you and to place my life in your hands, for you are Takaishi Takeru reborn and you are proof that Hope yet exists in this world." He feels his face heat up, not really sure if he can live up to Ken's expectations of him. Their Flames are content to intertwine and for some raw emotions to be exchanged before they both pull away, both feeling some of their own worries and emotional burdens lifted.

 _Still..._ "I saw... I saw layers, countless layers before I arrived in this body and life." He tells Ken, he's only told Giotto this. "Each layer, there was a person, most times a male in both body and soul while at others, just mind and soul... I never got a good enough look but each layer left an impression."

Ken's eyes seem guarded. "So many of them, died due to violence, so few ever died from old age." He sighs. "Then you ended up, well, reincarnated and now you mention two other sets of memories..."

"I just... I wondered, you know? Why did I end up with this second chance? Why not one of those other people?" The blond Sky admits. "I died with my only regret being that I was leaving Patamon behind."

"I see." Ken states, leaning back a bit, looking up at the ceiling. "I can't say I can relate to that as I still regretted my actions, still blamed myself for Sam, for what I put my parents through when I was younger..."

"But still, you did something, didn't you? To raise through those... layers that none of the others seemed to have done." Ken muses and he moves to get up.

"I climbed a cliff while in the Dark Ocean to get to this orange obelisk." He admits as he slowly walks for the door. "I... didn't have anything better to do, in a sense, other then see if I couldn't find you guys in the afterlife."

"So that was your third time visiting? When you... came for me?" The Mist asks and he glances towards Ken.

"Seemed like it. Kari first, then for myself, and recently, for you." He admits and then attempts to open the door, only for it to be stuck. He checks the door knob before trying to open it once more.

"I... put up a temporal barrier that kind of speeds up time within it, only without causing those inside of it to age faster because of it." Ken admits. "I was tired and I wanted to be sure I got enough sleep."

"What time did you finish?" He asks curiously and then glances out of the window, realizing how very picturesque the sight is. "I'm better off just picking something up to read until it ends, aren't I?"

"Well, you could come back to bed, to try and get more sleep." Ken admits, kind of dodging the question about time he got in.

Taking a bit to study Ken a bit more, he realizes that yea, Ken isn't looking very well rested. "But I'm not sleepy now." He kind of complains.

"Please?" Ken asks. "For me?"

Looking at his pleading friend, well, yea, after all, he's kind of emotionally tired concerning their respective admissions. "I guess it'll give me time to sort through my thoughts about what we just talked about." He admits as he lets go of the door knob.

"Yea, we did get around to some emotionally heavy topics." Agrees Ken as he moves to retake his position on the opposite side of the bed from his friend. With a thin sheet covering him, he feels Ken move to curl up next to him.

He reaches into his Flame and does his best to Harmonize with the concept of sleep and slowing down his vitals so that he doesn't need to use the bathroom so pressingly. So sleep claims him once more.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Baby omnivore. Explain." Kyoya asks upon sighting the latest member to join the household, who's got Tokomon resting in her arms while Minomon isn't in Kyoya's line of sight.

"A small animal looking for sanctuary from hurtful herbivores." He explains and Ken is quick to hide his chuckling at him speaking perfect 'Hibari-kun'. TK doesn't see why the Mist always finds it funny when he's acting as a translator between Kyoya and, well, pretty much everyone else.

"Ken is the one who found her and will ensure she attends school once she's settled in the household." He won't use Kyoya's title in concern for Ken or for Takeshi. Given that Kyoya has yet to meet Shoichi, there's no nickname for the younger boy.

Given that Nagi kind of shrinks under the Cloud's rather intense gaze, it's clear that Kyoya will leave off the matter for the time being. "Crow."

"I should have everything done in two weeks." Promises Ken and Kyoya huffs but moves out of the house. They are quick enough to leave, what with Nana-san busy clearing up a room for Nagi to claim as her own.

He can only guess that Nana-san will be 'winning' another week long trip to a spa or something that will get her out of Namimori in short order. After all, given Nagi's previous home life, it would be better for Nana-san to 'win' a trip and give the young girl a chance to 'breath' without the presence of an adult around. It's become quiet the common means for getting her out of the house, allowing them all to relax without her around.

Even Kyoya doesn't mind sticking around to socialize as long as the 'ewe' isn't around to mother the older boy. They even have a large pillow that is Kyoya's to use when they are playing video games. As long as the Cloud gets a certain amount of personal space, he's good and willing to indulge in playing a few games, most of them are, of course, competitive ones.

They part company with Ken and then Takeshi hooks up with them as they get close to school. "Hey Takeshi!" He greets his classmate and friend. "How was your game yesterday?"

"TK!" And the Rain is quick to give a greeting in the form of a nod to Kyoya. "Fun! But, well, we didn't win."

"It wasn't a big deal, was it? Losing?" He asks as he tries to recall if yesterday had been an actual school game or just for fun. "I don't recall you leaving on a bus..."

Takeshi laughs a bit, saying, "Nay, it was just a pick up game between our year and the year below us vs the year above us and the year above them."

"Well, that's not surprising, given they do have more experience and have been training longer." He reasons. "Did you get around to finishing your homework while waiting for your turn?"

"Kind of and I did ask one of the older kids to help with one of the problems." Takeshi reports. "How about you? How was practice yesterday for basketball?"

"Exhausting." He admits and he'll be glad when Talbot figures out the best design for their Digivices to take given the cost of the materials required to make them. "Still ended up getting sent to the showers mid way through practice."

"Well, at least you keep at it." Takeshi says with a pat on his left shoulder. "Most would get kind of depressed if that kept happening to them."

"I'm certain things will get better for me, given time." He says with certainty. "Also, we have a new member at the household."

"Oh?" And Takeshi shares a look with Kyoya but relaxes by whatever silent, body communication the other gives. "A renter?"

"No, a girl by the name Nagi, she's been in contact with Ken before he offered her a place to stay." He admits and Takeshi looks a touch curious and wary. "Ken sneaked her in last night and, well, I ended up bunking with Ken."

"How's your mother reacting to this?" Ask Takeshi curiously. "Preparing a room for her to stay in." He tells his friends, for Kyoya is listening in, even if it's Takeshi who's the one asking the questions for the both of them.

"So, she's going to be winning a trip somewhere soon, right?" Takeshi muses and he gives his friend a smile that reads 'how could I possibility know that?' "So, what do you guys plan to get up too when she's gone for a week?"

"Well, if such a fortune just happens to occur, likely just helping her get settled in and comfortable with us." He admits while Kyoya snorts at the beginning part and Takeshi just gives him a toothy smile. "Not a happy home life." He admits a bit more softly but then, that's due to them approaching a pair of girls that are in the same age group as Takeshi and himself.

Seeing that two strangers likely going to be 'crowding' with Takeshi and himself, Kyoya couldn't be quick enough to head off to patrol the area now that he's executed his duty of escorting him to school for this week. Not that he doubts that Kyoya won't be visiting the house at a later date, just not before school or right after school either, given that either Takeshi or himself had sports practice. He isn't the only one to turn to greet the two girls approaching them.

"Hello Kurokawa-chan!" Takeshi calls out a rather loud greeting while he greets the other girl, "Hello Sasagawa-chan."

"Hello Sawada-kun. Yamamoto-kun." Sasagawa Kyoko greets them both with a beaming smile while Kurokawa Hana offers, "Hello, you two monkeys."

They don't really do much other then exchange pleasantries, namely how their morning were and a bit concerning their homework assignments. "See you later, TK! See you both in class, Sasagawa-chan. Kurokawa-chan."

"Bye." With that, the small group breaks up and TK heads off to get to the classroom while the others head off to go visit with some classmates. Once in the room, he sits down and takes out his book, opening it at the bookmark, he continues reading it until class is about to start.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"Kind of small, aren't they?" Tokomon comments while he adjusts the strap that's not dissimilar to a watch band that sports the, maybe, four centre meter long Digivice that is a touch thicker in width but, surprisingly under a centre meter thick.

The face is pretty much a screen with the right side sporting two buttons and the left sporting three. "Kind of have to be given the material involved." TK says with a sigh, the leather of the 'watch' Digivice sports orange Flame design while Ken's sports indigo Flame wisps.

"Not bad looking if I don't say so myself." Comments the seemingly elderly man sporting a blindfold and a green Mohawk. "Though, you will need to enter into That to integrate that program into them."

The man gestures rather rudely at the slightly outdated desk top computer. "Well then, who wants to be first?" Ken asks and they study each other for a few seconds.

"I guess I should be." The blond says, with a good hold on Tokomon, he makes sure that the computer isn't on its screen saver before holding out his left hand that's now sporting the, hopefully, functional Digivice. Within seconds, he's in the computer and the Digivice activates, he's sure to use his Sky Flame to help the device fully connect with that power that enabled him to feed to Patamon to help his partner Digimon to Digivolve into his various forms.

Bight yellow light surround the Digivice with a swirl of a program language that he recalls seeing from his time in the Digital World enters into the light and when it fades, there's some minor changes to the Digivice, but that was to be expected. It's now the size of his original white Digivice and the screen is a touch smaller with the buttons also on the face of the Digivice.

Although what's surprising is the appearance of a yellow gemstone sporting the crest of Hope in the center that's in the shape of a tag. As he reaches for it, the wrist band transforms into a string and he manages to catch the Digivice before it falls to the ground, the back sports a clip. With both the Digivice and the gem in hand, he secures the Digivice on his pants pocket before threading the orange leather through the whole at the top of the gem, tying a good, strong knot, he slides the necklace over his head.

It's a bit too big, but that can be fixed by altering the leather. "Want to try it now or wait for Ken and Minomon to get theirs done? Try it at the same time?" He asks Patamon.

"Let's wait for them to get it done and then make sure neither of us have any problems." His best friend with grin. "Looks like your original, doesn't it?"

"The size does but the rest of it, not so much. After all, it kept that gun metal color for the casing along with the number of buttons near the edge of the screen." He points out as he takes it off to hold it so that his partner can get a better look.

"That screen is huge compared to the original." Agrees Patamon, the screen sports the local time and the date. He's kind of tempted to press something, to see if it does have internet access so that they don't need to be using a computer to enter or exit out of the cyberspace of the internet.

"Ready to exit out of here?" He asks and his partner hums, with Patamon perched on his head, he has them exit out of this computer's internet connection. Once out, he walks over to where the adult is to speak with him, he can already feel Ken's eyes on his new necklace.

"Sorry Talbot but, it seems that it being a watch didn't pan out." He informs the man in an apologetic tone. He holds out the Digivice for the man to examine.

"Be back." Ken says and TK gives the other a smile followed with a nod. Ken and Minomon vanish into the computer once they are standing before it. He focuses back on Talbot to find him hold it to his right ear and humming, as if holding a conversation.

It's not the first occurrence of this happening with Talbot, as the man seems to hear a song in the metal he works with. While strange, in the end, the Sky isn't going to judge the man as it's clearly a practice that works for the centuries old man. The man is famous in his chosen craft for the quality of his ability to work with Flame treated metals and the man's creation did end up being deemed suitable to be adjusted into proper Digivices.

"Well, I guess I'm not offended over this slight tinkering of my creations." Talbot decides after pulling it away and flipping the Digivice onto the back, seemingly studying the back. "This one's song... Well, it's quiet touching and uplifting. Rather Hope filled voice, even though it's a lonely voice missing its other chorus members."

He doesn't know why his face is burning upon hearing that or why he's certain that Talbot is enjoying the sight of his embarrassment. TK doubts that Giotto's told the man much about his past adventures so he's a bit uneasy of the fact that Talbot could tell that there are others missing who are usually with him, standing by his side, supporting him as he supports them. The blond kind of wants to write it off as the other commenting on his lack of other Guardians but, well, this is a man who's lived a few centuries and it's unlikely that Talbot wouldn't mention something if he didn't think it worth mentioning.

"I am sure that will change in time." TK assures the man, giving Talbot a weak smile. Talbot hums after a few seconds, he had wanted to say more but, well, he kind of doesn't know what more could be said that wouldn't be misleading in someway and, well, he doubts Talbot would like to hear such almost lies.

"Well, kid. I must say you are a refreshing customer!" Talbot then beams at him upon tossing his Digivice back at him. He's taken aback by that. "I also won't charge you extra for that stone about your neck!"

For a few seconds, TK just feels his mouth opens but no sound comes out. Recovering, he puts Digivice back on his pants pocket with his mouth snapping shut. Patamon giggles and it's clear that Talbot seems to be rather bemused, even though the man moves to be near the computer.

Ken and Wormmon exit out, he notices the indigo leather necklace and the pink gem sporting the crest of Kindness within it's center. "Here." Ken hands over his Digivice, which is twin of his own and Talbot is quick turn it around in his hands before holding it up to his left ear then right, humming.

"Good, good, the tune is a touch more depressing but it's also quiet gentle." Talbot states before handing it back to Ken, his friend gives him a questioning look while putting it to it hangs out of a pocket. "Now for the ultimate test!"

With that, the adult leads them out of the house and they hurry to follow after. Its strange to feel Patamon grip his hair as he walks after the man. They arrive in the court yard with ease and he moves to the left and Ken to the right, both Patamon and Wormmon move away from them, heading for the more open area.

"Ok, let's see this evolving trick that you mentioned." Talbot states and he touches his new Digivice. He can already feel it respond and it's like remembering how to ride a bike after years of not doing so.

"Patamon Digivolve to..." "Wormmon Digivolve to..." The two are engulf in light.

"Angemon!" "Stingmon!" The light retreats to reveal the two champions. He can't keep a smile off of his face at the sight of his partner and already, it seems that he's crying.

"I really didn't take you for being a cry baby when you were younger." Ken teasingly comments, although there's some wavering in the Mist's own eyes. He chuckles, it's hardly the first time Ken has likely seen him cry when he's overwhelmed, although it is the first time his fellow DigiDestine chose to comment on it.

"I'll grow out of it." He informs his friend while Angemon and Stingmon take to the air, both re-familiarizing themselves with their champion bodies. "I did last time." TK adds at Ken's raised eyebrow, it's clear that the older boy isn't sure he believes that.

"If you say so." And he sighs, he'd do more but, well, he's got tears to wipe away and his gaze seeks out his Digimon partner as a champion. He's just so happy for his partner, finally able to hold onto his rookie form and now having access to his champion.

It wouldn't surprise him that both Digimon had felt like something was missing, although, it was likely worst for Stingmon, given his past, personal history. There's no Davis and Veemon here, just Takeru and Patamon, and he's pretty sure that both Ken and Wormmon feel the loss of those two far more keenly then he does. Davis and him were never close and, well, it might have been the same between Patamon and Veemon.

"That... was fun but exhausting." Tokomon says upon landing and then releasing his champion form. Looking very sleeping and ready for a nap.

"Well, it's been a pretty long time since you've been able to do so." He says as he walks over and picks up his partner, who is already moving to curl into his chest. "Given time and you'll be far more use to it again." He promises and Tokomon murmurs his agreement while already starting to drift off to sleep.

"Good, good, both are functioning as they should and either show any stress from performing their primary function." Talbot says once Ken and himself walk back into the house with the owner leading the way. "The last name, it was Sawada, I believe?"

"Yes..." He didn't recall giving Talbot any last name nor did the man ask. Between Ken and himself, they have been able to raise a large amount of money viva online gambling and investments of said winnings.

"I'll be sure to charge the Vongola Famiglia for... repairs of delicate equipment." Talbot takes a moment to think of the right word. He pales and says, "No need, we've been raising up funds for purchases like this. There's no need to involve the Vongola in this matter."

Talbot names the cost and Ken asks, "Mind if we pay using three different cards? I know it won't be an even split between the three accounts but we can pay for it now."

This seems to take Talbot back a touch. "I've been practicing investing viva toy money." He admits. "I got better when I started penalizing myself by denying candy or asking for a video game, but, well, it did home my... Hyper Intuition as Giotto called it to the point that I'm earning more then losing. These days I invest using actual money that we've gotten from a few, questionable, online gambling sites as seed funds."

"We haven't needed to farm the sites to counter the money loss these days either." Admit Ken. "Particularly since you got the idea of creating that computer investing program that can use a minor batter of your Mist Flames to help its calculations." The blond gently remarks with a slight nudge.

"Well, spoil an old man's petty vengeance why don't you?" Talbot mutters and doesn't that cause a question to be at the tip of their respective tongues. The man is clearly over acting, what with the pout and the cross arms, plus it's like he's kicking an imaginary rock.

"Is this because of something Giotto did? Or was it something Iemitsu has done?" TK asks the elderly looking man.

"Well, Giotto could have at least put up more of a fight against Daemon and Ricardo concerning the future direction of that quaint group he started... It is actually more to do with the Ninth generation and the lack of, let us say, progression towards handing over the leadership of the Famiglia that I find rather offensive."

"Xanxus isn't in the running due to the need of a Mist Contract plus the whole issue of actually doing work to find those qualified to sign said document." The young Sky recalls and it's clear Talbot is a bit surprised by him knowing of that, while Ken snorts. "Isn't the official issue concerning the lack of Guardians? But the actual reason has to do with Timoteo just being dissatisfied with each of them? Finding that they lack what he supposedly wants in an Heir?"

"Not going to bring up the idea that he might settle on you?" Talbot inquires and he laughs, long and hard. "Me?! Yea, right, if Xanxus needs a Mist Contract to inherit, there must be one hell of a requirement out there for someone of Giotto's blood to be named Heir!"

"Plus, the Ninth personally Sealed one Sawada Tsunayoshi's Sky Flame when the boy went Active." Ken adds. "Kind of hard to name an Heir who's been declared a criminal and kick out of the Famiglia. That is the only reason to apply a Seal on a Flame Active person." And then there is this sudden charge in the air that puts a halt to his laughter, he kind of pulls Tokomon closer to his chest and he'd be shocked if Ken didn't do the same with Minomon.

"He did What?" Talbot's voice is soft yet it might as well be thunderous given how it seems TK's bones rattle at the sound. "Giotto!" The voice is rather like a thunder crack and his ears ring from the demand.

"Yes... Ah..." Turning, they find Giotto standing by the computer and the Sky suddenly looks much younger, as in, early teenager age then his typically adult years. The elderly marches over, both Ken and himself are sure to step aside to allow the owner of the house a clear path towards the teenage version of Giotto.

And then Talbot speaks Italian, it's sharp and TK is unable to follow. Glancing at Ken, it's not that surprising that his Mist and friend can follow along. He also picks up that it's clear that Talbot might be cursing along with making demands.

He doesn't understand Giotto as the older Sky does his best to give be honest, although it's clear that Giotto isn't as confident with his answers or, more likely, knows that what he has to say isn't nothing good. TK moves to stand next to Ken, more for wanting to be close to his friend before he gently has his Sky Flame move to reach for the older boy's Mist Flame. He feels the response and they kind of do a hand holding between their Flames, it's just a comforting gesture that they both likely need.

Both Minomon and Tokomon are awake but they are silent, he wonders if Tokomon understand Italian. It's clear that Talbot wishes to do much more then hurl verbal abuse and Giotto gives them both a weak smile but, well, he wonders just what is going to happen now for clearly, Talbot is going to use this information, it's just that, well, TK is at a loss of the how and what will result in the course of this action.

None of the Vongola Dons mentioned anybody that in charge of enforcing whatever unspoken rules the Flame Users possess and given he wasn't planning to do much to reveal the existence of Flames to the world himself, Giotto didn't seem interested in covering that topic, nor did he think to ask.

He doesn't want to become involve with the Vongola Famiglia and the criminal world that most Flame Users drift into or born being a part of. Maybe that's a big oversight on his part but, well, TK had not drawn the attention of any other Active Flame Users, well, besides Ken and, well, Nagi might be Active at this point too, but Ken is the one who brought her home and if she is Active, is training her. So there hadn't been any Need for him to ask any deep, probing questions as of yet.

After all, Timoteo pretty much kicked him out of the family as Sawada Tsunayoshi by applying that Seal instead of arranging training for the newly Active Sky. It's how the boy Sawada Tsunayoshi ended up ceasing to exist, paving the way for the return of Takaishi Takeru. It's hard for TK to forgive or forget that fact, not when he's experiencing a life means for another to live as he already lived his own life and it came to a natural close.

Whatever lies the Don and the External Advisor told themselves back then, whatever lies they continue to tell themselves, they don't undo the action that lead an almost five year old boy's death in a literal sense. They don't really regret their decision or else they would have been around when TK woke from the coma. Iemitsu, it seems, might as well be someone who paid Nana-san to have a child and is paying her to be the caretaker of said child for all the interest the man invests in the woman and in himself.

"Vindice?" Giotto states in a question like way. "Vindice." States Talbot in a very final nail in the coffin kind of way.

"Yea, zombies." Ken murmurs and he is at a loss of just how Ken reached that conclusion. "Zombies?" He repeats questioningly.

"Well, no, as they can still think but, well, undead is still their... unnatural state of being." Ken admits. "The supposed Mafia police force."

"I'm... not a fan of anything with the condition of undead." His mind drifts towards a certain ultimate, then mega, and, well, mega again, Digimon. "Myotismon isn't here, TK." Tokomon reminds him and that's cold comfort in the face of undead humans that are suppose to be the law of the criminal underbell.

"For now it seems..." He murmurs darkly and Ken nudges his shoulder while he feels Ken's Flames gently tug on his own. "And no, just don't mention what you are about to mention." He gives the older boy a flat look.

Ken closes his mouth and looks a touch offended. "Nope." He repeats when Ken is going to try again. "No mentioning that place or whoever might be in resident there. After all, you do recall what they'd be after now, right?" His eyes drift towards Ken's neck.

"It's gone." Defends Ken and he raises his eyes up once more. "But..." He trails off and Ken winces, looking off. "Point."

Letting out a sigh, he moves an arm to place a hand on Ken's back, rubbing the older boy's back. "It's best leave sleeping 'dogs' lie." He remarks. "Agreed." Minomon chirps in, causing Ken to give his partner a fake look of betrayal, which causes Tokomon to giggle.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"I didn't know when you guys were going to return..." Nagi admit as they pull out a chair each and collapse onto the table. "It's fine, we're just..." Ken trails off.

"Met with some rather intense people who needed to be bribed to do their self appointed job." Patamon states from his position on his head, a touch crossly. "Which defeats the whole, self appointed point of it all." He remarks with Wormmon just humming in agreement.

"Wormmon? And..." Nagi trails off at the likely sight of Patamon. "Patamon is what I am called as a rookie." His best friend explains.

"So, you two have those devices then?" The young girl asks and Ken responses, "Yes and a bonus item that we didn't expect to receive."

"And then, Talbot brought up a topic and, well, it led to us being held up." Wormmon explains with an apologetic tone. "But it also cleared up a matter that's been lingering for sometime." Adds Patamon.

"Which was?" Nagi asks after a period of silence and he finally finds the energy to pull is arms up and to cross them under his head. "The succession of the Vongola Famiglia." He reports.

"Still unbelievable that Ricardo never thought to put anything in place to keep it from returning to Giotto's bloodline." Comments Ken. "The man wrestles the group away from the founder and doesn't put anything in place to keep it out of the founder bloodline hands? That's... just so... so... short sighted and stupid, it doesn't seem like something the man wouldn't Do."

"Or was confident that it would never happen in the first place." Wormmon points out. "After all, a lot of things could happen to Giotto upon arrival to Japan."

"Like nobody keeping track of family relations or anyone in Italy willing to allow the Heir to be someone not just foreign raised but a non-catholic to boot." He muses. "Even if they did possess the right blood. They'd likely make arrangements for the guy to marry a selected spouse while giving him some job, maybe even tell him a lie concerning his future kids being allowed to try for the inheritance, and then groom the resulting kids for other positions within the Famiglia or arranging for a daughter to marry into the 'main' line of the family again."

"That sounds like a reasonable plan to follow, actually." Ken muses. "You sure you don't want to become a leader of Mafia Family?"

"Yes, I am sure." He states firmly. "Nor do I want to found one or do a hostile take over of one."

"TK was in line to inherit?" Nagi asks with a touch of shock and he's more then happy that someone, also, doesn't see him as a good candidate for a Mafia Don. Or was that just surprise that he was being considered?

"I was technically kicked out when they Sealed... Well, me, when I went Active a few months shy of being five." Yea, he's going to do his best to accept the likely hood that Tsunayoshi likely had been his current reincarnation. Not that he's going to stop thinking of himself as Takaishi Takeru though, not when his body's appearance fully matches his looks from that life, just... do his best to accept that fact and the fact that all his friends have been reincarnated as well.

"The Vindice have arrested both the Ninth Don of the Vongola Famiglia and the External Advisor for a serious crime concerning them over stepping their authority in regards to a matter that should have involve the Vindice." Patamon reports. "We are not sure what's going to happen to the man's Guardians as they weren't there for when said overstepping of authority took place."

"Not sure which of the sons are going to be stepping up, now that their father is out of the picture but, well, it's not a matter for any of us." He states. "As I am now listed as an official Ward of the Vindice as are any Harmonized Elements and Guardians, of which Ken is my Flame Active Guardian and you, yourself are listed as a Harmonized Mist."

"It means that we are under a blanket of neutrally from the criminal Flame groups and anyone wishing to press either of us about being Flame Active must go through the Vindice first." Ken explains with a warm smile toward the younger girl, who blinks before blushing and relaxing as she understands what this means for her as well.

"As long as we don't use our Flames in an obvious public setting, tell those who are not Flame Active about the Flames of the Dying Will, or try for any public or military careers, we're good." He adds. All of which weren't that appealing to him anyway nor to Ken, he's not sure if Nagi had given it much thought about what kind of career or job she wants, but, well, things are looking on the upside now.

He's got his Digivice, what might be his tag and crested fused into one item, the matter of Vongola Famiglia not being able to claim him nor can the Mafia make a pass for either of the two Mists that he cares for, and he's got a lot wiggle room to figure out what he wants out of this life. It's not all sun shine and roses but, well, it's enough.

"Oh, ah, Hibari-san came over to check on you two and, well, he wasn't pleased to learn you left Namimori without informing him." Nagi admits and he hums while Ken groans. Both Digimon just snort and laugh a bit at the fact that their human partners are in trouble with their rather possessive friend.

"Any idea when he'll be showing up?" Ken asks him and he frowns as he considers the matter. "Well... it kind of depends, I think, if he's taken to staking out the only ways into Namimori for us." He slowly muses.

"What time is it?" Ken asks and once they get the time, they leave their partners here as they kind of need to keep up the appearance of not leaving Japan or even explaining how they left Japan in the first place. With a bit of help from their Digivices, they arrive just as the latest arriving bus does. Ken is quick to use Mist to have nobody notice them entering into the bus before leaving it with the other passengers.

"Crow. Baby omnivore." Kyoya catches up with them as they head for the snack area to grab something.

"Hey Hibari-kun! How was your day?" He inquires politely while Ken continues to with grabbing them something.

There's a frank look in Kyoya's eye and then the older boy takes the time to study him, it's clear that the other has noticed the necklace along with the Digivice. "Couldn't find anyone with them in stock in Namimori." He explains truthfully.

"Then, well, side tracked by a legal matter concerning my father so we haven't had much to eat." He admits and there's worry yet annoyance in those intense eyes but it's also clear that since he's being honest, the older boy isn't as upset as he would be if they were trying to feed him half truths or out right lies.

There's a slight question in that newly raised eyebrow. "It involved the coma and it touched on Ken and Nagi-chan's living situation." He admits with a soft sigh. "It shouldn't come back up but if it does, well, the law is going to be on our side so it won't be a such a huge mess to be clean up later."

"Informed Fox." States Kyoya and he sighs as the older boy walks off like a 'boss'. Clearly deciding that's suitable punishment and, well, yea, it is given that Takeshi will be wanting to speak with them, sooner the better.

"How come I'm still a baby when you two are just animal names?" He wonders to Ken as they walk out of the bus stop, munching on some mini cookies. "After all, Takeshi is my age, even if he is older by a few months."

"I don't translate Hibari speech." His friend points out. "Plus, well... Might be your aura? It does kind of scream 'Protect me! I am helpless'."

"I'm hardly helpless." TK states with a frown. "Oh, come on, that's not what... I can't be... Really?" It kind of dawns on him that it might be more of an effect of him being an Active Sky then anything, after all, Matt had been all for babying him back when he was eight but that had to do with their parents being divorced and them rarely seeing each other. Even Tai, who was also an older brother, didn't baby Kari that much when she joined them, well, he's pretty sure the older boy hadn't and Tai had every reason to worry given Kari's fragile health at that age.

"There, there." Ken pats him on the shoulder with a teasing smile and he just huffs at the Mist. "It's hardly your fault for what your aura tells the world."

"Gee, rub it in more deeply, why don't ya?" He states in a sarcastic tone as he gently pushes Ken away, which causes Ken to with draw his hand. "Looks like we're going to end up with sushi." The blond boy admits as they get on the right street, he's been allowing his Sky Flame to direct him to where Takeshi is, it feels like their friend is in the restaurant.

"At least we know it's of good quality." The Mist points out. "True." He agrees.

They enter into the building, being sure to quickly eat the rest of the open bag of snacks before entering, tossing the trash out. "TK! Ken!" And they are both engulfed in a hug, which he manages to return with a single arm.

"Hey Takeshi, Hibari-kun mentioned telling you that we left." He tells the other, who lets them go. The inactive Rain hums while taking a second to study their Digivices and their necklaces.

"I wouldn't take you for someone to wear pink, Ken." Replies Takeshi, who bats at the gemstone with the crest within it. "That kind of blue for the leather suits you better." Decides Takeshi, which is bemusing given that Takeshi shouldn't be aware of Flames.

"Yellow looks ok but doesn't it clash with that shade of orange?" His classmate continues while taking a second to study the gem. He fingers the gem, moving it just so, allowing Takeshi to get a good look of the crest within it.

"Maybe, but I liked this design and it's usually found in yellow." He explains. "The leather was all I could find to use as a string."

Takeshi chuckles but focus over towards the pink one, clearly taking the time to take in the sight of the design within Ken's own. Ken reaches up and moves it so that Takeshi can get a better look of what's within it. Takeshi smiles at Ken in thanks before ushering them up to the counter. "Dad! Look who's back!"

"Hello, I hope you boys had a good trip." Yamamoto-san says as the man moves from behind the register to speak with them. "It was eventful, given a minor legal matter that's been needing to be addressed for sometime and with my mother away..." He trails off and the adult gets a touch serious.

"I hope you boy know better then to sign anything without a legal guardian." Yamamoto-san states. "We did have an adult we trusted to attend the meeting with, sir." Because yes, they did trust Giotto, even if the man is just a Flame Ghost.

"Well then, good." And with that, Yamamoto-san walks off for the kitchen, leaving his son, who is likely oh so curious about the matter but is doing his best to be polite and a good host. "It involved the coma and there was a bit concerning Ken and Nagi-chan's current living situation." He explains after glancing towards Ken.

"Oh? Is that all..." And Takeshi relaxes, its clear the boy thought the topics to be old news.

"Well, it never got sorted out and if we didn't sort it now, it would only result in a larger mess to deal with." Ken admits. "As much as Nana-san is a kind and generous woman, she can be overly trusting of matter and might believe her husband settled these kind of things already." Left unsaid was that, he didn't attend to said matters but implied.

"You know, I don't believe I ever met your father, TK." Takeshi muses and the blond hums. "Well, to be honest, he doesn't seem interested in working in Japan. Only recent visit had been before we became friends actually and that was before I turned five."

He is sure to look away from Takeshi, yes, the other can be an air head at time but not in regards to things that the other cares for and Takeshi does care about him, care about the friendship they have, and of how he is more then happy to accept that there are times when Takeshi just can't have a smile. on his face. Takeshi likely had felt threatened by Ken, at first, but then the two just started to open up a bit to each other and whatever it is Takeshi saw in those moments, well, it's clear he decided that Ken was someone who he can also trust. Which might be why Takeshi has been kind of focus on figuring out an approach concerning Kyoya. Takeshi wants to know if there is common ground the two of them might have but is going unexplored due to lack of effort on their respective parts.

As for Nagi, well, anyone can see that she's still recovering from her previous situation and is in need of people who will be there for her. So, she's become something of a younger sister or cousin for most of them, well, he can't say for sure with Kyoya as the other boy isn't one to admit such personal things verbally but still, he's aware that she's skittish and is needing time to heal, he does try to be less intense around her as well as more verbal. He's certain that, given time, she'll earn herself a nickname from Kyoya that, likely in Kyoya's eyes, suits her.

Ken is quick to change the topic to one concerning a sport and after a bit, he rejoins the conversation. Yamamoto-san arrives with their unasked for meal and they keep the focus on sports from the pro teams to the more local high school level ones. All the while they eat from the platter and just enjoy the light hearted conversation.

They do pay for their meal, even though Yamamoto-can gives them a discount as they weren't the ones to place the order. "So, you think I can get one of those?" Takeshi asks as they are about to leave and it takes him a second to realize what the other is talking about.

"You might, you never know until you look into these kind of things." Ken states as the Sky fingers the gem, having forgotten that he had it. "Good point." Takeshi agrees with a sobering look.

"Huh..." He muses as they walk home. "Hmmm." Agrees Ken and he gives the other a dry look but leaves it unsaid.

 **\- = { [ + X = ] } = -**

"What are you doing?" The teenage Sky asks upon walking down the stairs, he'd noticed something of a mix barrier possessing a number of different Flames, all of whom belonging to his Guardians and Harmonized Elements. The barrier had last for a good ten minutes before he just decided to use a tricky bit of Sky Flames to by pass it.

All parties about the living room pause around the rather strong Sun that kind of looks familiar. All around there's signs that of Flames slowly repairing the evidence of there having been a struggle in the first place. Given the Flames involved in the barrier, he wasn't surprised to find Kyoya or Takeshi involved, it's Ryohei, Shoichi, Kyoko, Hana, and Haru that are the surprise.

"Vongola." Ken informs him simply from where his Mist Guardian and friend is standing, clearly ensuring that the flat screen is getting repaired right. He glances toward Wormmon and then at Patamon, both nod.

"Oh, continue on then." He heads for the kitchen while Nagi is busy talking with someone on a smart phone. "Wait, that's it? That's all you have to say?" Hana asks in exasperation and he gives the teenager a bland look.

"Well, yes? I mean, we are all technically Wards of the Vindice, which means that anyone from the Mafia and other such organizations have to go through them before approaching us." TK says and it is clear that Kyoya now gets why that relative of his had looked so distress not long after meeting the young Sky.

"That's who Nagi-chan phoned!" Takeshi exclaims and he nods while frowning at the fact there isn't any water coming out of the tap. "But wouldn't the time barrier interfere with that?"

Turning off the tap, he considers the question while both Shoichi and Ryohei keep using their own Sun Flames to keep the seeming younger Sun from waking. They seemed to have worked out a beat to use and Takeshi's Rain has been helping to cause a sluggish reaction within the revealed agent of Vongola.

Seeing that both Hana and Haru possess Lightning Flames, they are likely helping to Harden the barrier's influence with Hana's Storm Flame is being channelled to keep their bodies from aging prematurely from use of this kind of barrier. What little Sky Flame Kyoko possess is helping to soften the two girls' Flame so they will interact with the rest of the Flames in the barrier while Kyoko's stronger Sun Flame is helping to Activate repairs of the house.

Kyoya's Cloud and Mist are being used to help repair said damage while Ken's is ensuring the barrier is Constructed right and Nagi's own is being used to Construct a way for them to contact the Vindice. He adds his own Sky Flame to help intermesh the barrier, helping to relieve some of the burden Kyoko is under as all those in the living room are Harmonized with him, its just some degree of Harmonization aren't as strong as others, for Hana's Flames prefer Kyoko's Sky then his own but then, Hana and Kyoko have been friends far longer then Hana and he had been and they are still figuring out their own limits as friends.

He turns to regard his Sun Guardian and his other Harmonized Sun. While it's clear that Shoichi looks a touch nauseous, the red head is clearly not feeling the strain of his current task. It doesn't surprise him much that Ryohei isn't the least bit tired but then, the older teen has been passively using his Sun Flames for years, thus his reserves are larger but, sadly, far more inward focus and there's been a certain cost to that practice in the form of hyper focus on a single goal of being a boxer.

Yea, he gets a headache when it comes to Ryohei's tunnel vision and how it just keeps looping back on itself. Then again, most of those in the living room get frustrated over Ryohei's state of affairs along with his forever obsession with boxing. It's a hard nut to crack in regards to treating his Element's condition and it does come down to, they are all kind of uncomfortable with using the 'extreme' solution to fully break the feed back loop, so they're just going to do their best to work on it by trying to use it to break it.

"Is everything repaired?" He asks curiously as he doesn't feel any more drips going on with the barrier. "Looks like." Ken calls and there's a number of people who echo that after taking a look at the front porch and the door.

TK glances at towards Nagi and she notices. "We're going to drop the barrier, when are they ready to show up?" The Sky asks.

"A moment." Nagi speaks into the phone, waits and then after what seems like a few minutes, says, "Ready!"

He steadies his Sky Flame as Ken's Mist releases the Construction and the others are quick to pull their Flames back within and he then does the same, just as a black Flame wrap point opens and Jack enters into the living room with floating chains already raised to ensnare the offending Vongola agent.

"That's Reborn." Jack states upon staring at said Sun and that's when he recalls why the stranger is familiar. "You downed Reborn." There is now humour in the undercurrent of the undead law enforcer's tone.

"As in the Acrobaleno? As in the cursed Sun?" Ken asks while most of the other teens are rather unnerved by Jack, which, well, is very understandable.

"As in the Hitman Reborn?" Patamon asks. "I think his title is World's Greatest Hitman." Wormmon remarks.

"We are awesome!" Takeshi declares and high fives Ryohei. "Extremely awesome!" The older Sun agrees a touch too loud while Jack's chains are put away.

"The phone please, Nagi." Jack says, not moving at all and the young Mist moves to stand near, passing the phone over. He walks over to look at the still downed Sun Acrobaleno, moving to stand behind his Sun Guardian.

"What an interesting lizard." Shoichi muses as the young Sun allows the little green lizard to climb onto his arm. "I think it's a chameleon of some breed." He recalls as the tiny lizard seems content to climb about Shoichi's arm and then seems to use Sun Flames to transform into a hang glider mid air to land on Shoichi's other hand, releasing the transformation.

"Looks like someone is trying to beat you two at your own game." Hana states dryly as Patamon comes to rest on his blond hair. "Got to be a limit to the size at least." Shoichi muses.

He feels Ken's Flames surround Patamon and he's pretty sure they are surrounding Wormmon just as Reborn wakes. Then the tiny, cursed man rolls away from where Shoichi is and reaches into his suit before Jack musing in a menacing tone, "And why are you here, Acrobaleno? Sawada Tsunayoshi and those Harmonized with him are Wards of Vindice."

 _Whiplash much?_ TK muses as the cursed Sun snaps his head to look at Jack. "I was under the impression that Sawada Tsunayoshi is a member of the wider Vongola Famiglia given that his father is Sawada Iemitsu." The cursed man states.

"Both were arrested for their crimes concerning the youngest Sawada." Jack states in a frank tone. "Did the list of their crime not get read by the current Don?"

 _Oh? Oh! Ooh!_ And he face palms his face as he realizes the exact wording the Vindice used, that he gave to Nagi some years ago. He feels Ken's Flame ripple over his own Flame and then feels his other Guardians reach out. Gentle passing along a request to Ken, his first Guardian plays out the wording that the Vindice used, that he said to Nagi.

There's a number of reactions from his Cloud, Rain, and Sun in regards to the memory that just got shared. The Vindice never fully informed anyone that it involved Sealing a recently Flame Active Sky or any references concerning him. So yea, the Vongola stepped into trouble once more without even realizing due to how the arresting was phrased.

And then Reborn, instead of doing what he'd hope was the smart thing by, you know, leaving, the former favourite hitman of Timoteo Vongola starts arguing over the matter by quoting the contract that the former Don had begun drawing up before being arrested. TK really doesn't care, after all, he doesn't want to be part of the Vongola Family nor does he really want to be overtly involved in the Mafia.

"We have school, don't we?" He asks Kyoya and it's clear that the Cloud is torn between wanting to watch the train wreck or ensuring they all attend school. "Crow..."

"Already begun!" Ken states and then, they leave, they have school plus, he's kind of hungry now but that'll get fixed come lunch as Patamon is still with him, which means that with some planning, he'll have take out for lunch, it's just a question of what.

Ken, Haru, and Shoichi head their own separate ways for school while the rest of them make it to school with time to spare.

Ending it here, Folks!

 **Author's Note**

Yea, this got huge fast yet, I couldn't stop writing this out. Yea, having Mukuro end up with Ken's memories just fit, you know? Of course 55 pages is a lot, not sure if fanfiction will take this as is.

Yea, TK is pretty out of character but then, this version grew up to be an adult, got married, had a kid or two, had his son picked to take up the mantle of DigiDestine, then learnt what it was like to be the one worrying for the safety of not just his own kid but this niece, nephew, and adopted nieces and nephews, and, well, lived a long life until he died of old age.

And then Kyoya decided to butt into the time TK was in the hospital, which, well, was where I started to want to write about his relationships with the local Elements. Figured introducing Reborn was a natural way to end this.


End file.
